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moonyasnow · 2 months ago

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My OCs' JoJo Stands!

To anyone from JoJo fandom finding this: Hi :) I'm Moony! (they/them) My main fandom is something else (Twisted Wonderland) but I'm also a really big JoJo fan and have made Stands for 7/8 of my OCs! Hope you like them!

And for everyone else who kinda knows me already:

Not including Lisle because he didn't exist yet when I made these! The order of this goes in ascending order from how interesting I think the stand is, so ending with my favorite!

Also gonna be some spoilers-ish for: Part 3 (maybe??? I mention the name of two stands Part 5 (some character names, 2-3 fights I think?, and two Stands) I just wanna cover all my bases 👍

I might do another post with a bunch of my HCs on how they'd get along/not with canon characters (specifically in Part 5 since it's my favorite, but maybe some other misc characters I can see them having interesting relationship dynamics with) but for now here are their Stands!

(also Myzery if you're reading this, the reason I didn't tag you for Veronica is bc you don't watch JoJo and would have no idea what's going on 🥲)

Artemisia

Stand Name: Blackbird

Ability: Broken Wings

Info: Stand gives user the ability to create feathers of any size, shape and color they'd like, so long as they can be found in nature. User can, for example, form the feathers into the shape of a shield, or a parasol, or a pillow. The second, more often used ability lets user create a full suit made of feathers, along with a pair of big actual wings on her back. Just think of White Album's suit but made of feathers instead, with thin, translucent feathers in front of her face as a kind of visor. This way, she won't be seen by non-Stand users, since the feathers cover every inch of her body. It has a physical form in the suit, but it, much like Thoth, White Album's ice-suit and Hermit Purple's vines is not a humanoid Stand and instead in the form of a tool.

Method of Activation: at user's will

Limit: it, just like its user, is weak to sunlight. The Stand can only be in use for around 30 minutes while under direct sunlight, after which it will literally start to melt and burn. So the best use of this Stand is at night, with a suit made of black feathers.

Range: 5m

Spike

First of all; I'm gonna be 100% transparent and say that both his Stand, as well as Spike himself actually, originated from this fic!

The basic gist of it is that, it's a fic where a male reader (bordering on OC) was one of the Stardust Crusaders, later went on to have a thing with Bucciarati, and later had to leave to help the fight in Part 6. I think I've changed Spike enough that he and the character in this fic are no longer the same, but the description of how the Stand looks (maybe also how it works??? It's been a while; I don't 100% remember) is lifted directly from this So I wanted to give credit! (btw please read it, it's so good)

Stand Name: Skillet

Ability: Spikes

Info: Can make razor sharp spikes appear anywhere the Stand touches. Can also throw spikes like bullets. Whenever user gets too angry, shows up unprompted and snarls at the target of Spike's ire.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: If not careful, could harm allies, and user himself, with spikes, too. A real double-edged sword.

Range: 2-10m (Stand can only go two meters away but the spikes can show up as far as 10 meters away if Skillet makes contact with the same surface— such as the ground)

Appearance description:

The Stand itself has deep red skin, wears a spiked blindfold over its eyes, and even though its mouth has been sewn shut with something that looks like thin metal wire, it wears a muzzle. Two giant spikes go through its hands, as well as through its entire torso just below the collar bones, and it has sharp, black claws instead of fingers. There are spikes coming out of its head, too.

Tomoe

Stand Name: Good Charlotte

Ability: record-making, poison

Ability Name: Chronicles of Life, Chronicles of Death

Info: For the ability 'Chronicles of Life', if Stand has a piece of something— DNA from a person, a piece of an object, etc— it can analyze it and find out about its history, after which it will produce a historical document, its shape depending on the time and culture the object came from. Once created, a document can not be destroyed through killing the user, but can be burned or destroyed in the same way as any other book, scroll or tablet. User can also wish for the Stand to hone in on a specific angle when making a Chronicle. For the ability 'Chronicles of Death', the Stand has sharp quills it uses to write with, and if user chooses, Good Charlotte can shoot the quills like projectiles at a target. The ink the Stand uses is poisonous to living things when wet, leading to a slow but painless death that looks and feels like falling asleep— it usually takes 10 minutes to work to its full effect.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: It records details you might see written down in a historical document or an old myth or legend, meaning more mundane details are often ignored unless user tells it to specifically hone in on a specific angle. The smaller the material Stand has to work with, the more incomplete the Chronicle will be. And as far as the poisonous ink goes, the ink dries very quickly, meaning a subject would need to be no further away than maybe two meters for the ink to actually poison them, so ranged projectiles are not poisonous. And if the poison is extracted within 10 minutes, the subject will only be asleep for a few hours before waking up again.

Range: 1m

I don't have any art for this one, so here's a description instead:

Red, black, white and gold colors cheme

Skin is a vibrant deep red color and its body looks a bit like a metallic ball-joint-doll, lower arms being a white color with black fingers, and lower legs white with black feet. Two golden, pupil-less eyes, no mouth or nose. Wears a monocle with many lenses over its left eye, each lense added giving an enhanced zoom-in effect. It wears a darker red toga with a gold and black same-komon pattern. On the back of its head, it wears a big, golden bow.

Irina

Stand Name: Copycat

Ability: Persuasion

Ability Name: Copy That, Copycat

Info: User can persuade a subject to stop being mad at and/or like them more, and the mirror on Copycat's face shows the faces of the people currently being affected. In this state, user can much more easily persuade someone of almost anything so long as the user has a somewhat believable story, and during it Copycat whispers in their ear. And when its mirror is in use, Copycat will imitate the body language and personality of whoever reflected in its mirror it's standing the closest to, letting the user take notes on what kind of behavior would work best to truly persuade the person in front of them with. It's a Stand that's very good for reconnaissance, buying time, can function similarly to a bribe, or could potential lower a subject's guard somewhat. Though, it's not very useful on its own in combat, since when someone has decided to kill you, getting within two meters of them is not a good idea. If she was ever separated from Copycat, like what happened with Fugo and Purple Haze in the Illuso fight, it would try to search for her, then sit down on the ground, hug itself and tremble if it couldn't find her. If it found someone Irina knows who isn't actively hostile, it'd try to jump toward them and cling to their leg.

Method of Activation: Subject looking into Copycat's mirror while within a meter of it.

Limit: Only works on up to 10 people at a time, and the potency decreases the more subjects the ability is split between. If subject(s) has been outside of Stand's range for an hour, the effect wears off.

Range: 2m total. The Stand itself cannot travel further than one meter away from her body, and can affect someone standing at most a meter away, so a total of two meters.

Copycat has a lot of potential to grow. Right now, its user is extremely timid, and feels way too guilty about using its abilities at all to feel confident in its use.

But if she were to become a bit more confident, a bit more willing to use that power, Copycat could become a truly scary stand— one that can puppet people's minds to its user's ends.

Just like Giorno said in the fight against Cioccolata, a Stand is someone's unconscious will given form, so if someone feels guilt or hesitancy about using their ability, it acts as a form of brake.

Junia

Stand Name: Mother Knows Best

Ability: Listen to your mother

Info: Stand causes subject to misremember instructions they've been give, instead remembering a distorted version of often very strange things to do that, if precisely followed, will lead to the best possible outcome. Stand can be used on both user or unrelated subject. Can also be used for some light combat. If Mother hits a subject on request of the user, that person will get the same horrible, dizzying headache and nosebleed as when its instructions are not followed. If Stand is upset and has given subject headache, anyone who touches the Stand will get the same headache.

Method of Activation: Subject needs to be given advice or instructions by someone, and Mother needs to touch them.

Limit: If the instructions of Mother Knows Best are not very precisely followed, the outcome will be disastrous, and Mother turns red in anger, also giving the subject who disobeyed the orders a severe, dizzy headache and a nosebleed. Ability can also only be used once every 12 hours, whether that be on the user or another person.

Range: 3m

At first when she discovers her Stand, she's very unsure about the instructions it gives her, and might end up not following them exactly because she doesn't trust herself, which just ends in her getting a nose bleed and a horrible headache. And she's a bit on edge whenever she sees it because she feels like it's judging her all the time— watching her for mistakes just like her mother used to.

She needs to learn that this is her ability, and to trust her own powers in order to make the best use of Mother Knows Best.

At some point she named her Stand 'Mother Knows Best', though usually she just shortens it down to 'Mother'.

She's really good at flower fortunes— and the crazy part is that her flower fortunes are right every single time without fail.

When she or someone else asks a question, her Stand activates and makes her misremember the question as something else but also related. Then she asks the person who asked the question to turn around while she consults the flower. She started doing this because a pair of invisible hands— well, invisible to all but her— picking off the petals one by one and whispering 'yes' or 'no' to her as it picks them looks creepy to most people.

Then she turns around and says the fortune.

Just as an example, if they asked if they can see their crush tomorrow, Mother Knows Best might rearrange the question to make her hear 'will (crush) eat rotten fish today'. Then when Junia turns around and says that yes, (crush) will be eating rotten fish today. The person asking might think it's weird and not trust it. Then the next day, their crush is nowhere to be seen. And the day after that, when they see each other again, the crush tells them they had to stay home the day prior with food poisoning— the fish they had for dinner was apparently rotten.

Since she herself isn't actually aware of her Stand, she never does this consciously— in her perspective, it just happens every time she does a flower fortune.

But, her mother has told her that her flower fortunes are a waste of time, so she doesn't do it a lot anymore, even though she thinks it's fun.

Veronica

Stand Name: Crane Wife

Ability: Paper

Ability Name: Unraveling, Curses

Info: A medium-range combat Stand made entirely out of origami, looks like a simplified 3D paper version of the user, wearing hakama pants, a crop top and it’s hair up in a ponytail. Though the face has no eyes, nose or mouth, only a pair of eyebrows to let you know how it's feeling. It's also possible for two spots on the Stand's cheeks to be dyed into two perfect circles of reddish pink if it— and by extension the user— is feeling flustered. This is its most common form, a small origami crane being the second most common. The ability 'Unraveling' allows it to fold itself up to a maximum size of 100square feet, into any shape without getting any thicker, making it able to fit under any gap. The paper is extremely durable and not easily cut through, but also incredibly sharp— sharp enough to let the Stand use a sword made of the paper. It's an incredibly powerful Stand, and if no water, fire or strong wind is present, it's almost unbearable. Almost. It's a Glass Canon of a Stand: incredibly powerful at the cost of being incredibly easy to harm once something gets close enough. And also the ability 'Curses' lets the user cut off a small part of the stand and ascribe an effect to it, then fuse it to a subject's skin, after which it lasts for 30 minutes, then falls off. The effect is to make the subject experience some type of pain— anything from feeling as though the part of the body it's attached to it is on fire, frozen, being put through a meat-grinder, etc. though it does not actually harm the subject in any way. Curses also takes a toll on its user, as it has to sacrifice large amount of energy to tear off a piece of the Stand. Its worst weakness is fire— fire will instantly set it aflame, and user could die if Stand is not put out. It's an off-white color and cannot be dyed, and thus quite easy to spot. It is possible to write on, but the writing disappears if Stand is called back. It's a surprisingly talkative Stand; whenever Veronica tries to hide or lie about her emotions, it comes out of its own volition and voices her emotions for her, unless she tries very, very hard to keep it from doing so. It can be anything, from cussing someone out, to giving them praise. Or, going over to someone Veronica secretly really likes, laying down on its stomach, kicking its feet in the air with elbows on the ground, hands holding its face up, two reddish pink circles on its face, just staring at them.

Method of Activation: At user's will

Limit: Weak to fire, water and winds above 40mph. The body itself is also not very stable. A glass canon, basically— if she is hit in battle, that's usually it.

Range: 30m

The left is the Combat/regular form, and the right is the Scout form (the little origami crane)

Victor

Stand Name: Oh Hello

Ability: Necromancy

Ability names: Wormwood, Danse Macabre

Info: The ability 'Wormwood' lets the Stand take the corpses of any non-human animal and twist them into Frankenstein creatures that do the user's bidding. The user can choose to see through the eyes of one creature at a time. The creatures can also be just the unaltered corpses of animals, but the less altered they are the likelier it is they will be disobedient, though it is easier and takes less time than creating one from scratch. The creatures can do things like spy for their User, attack the User's enemies, collect things for the user, bury things, or simply act as companions; pets. The creatures 'live' until one of their organs are affected. User can create however many creatures they want, however, the more they create at once the less smart, cooperating and refined— and thus easier to destroy— the creatures will be. Any corpse will do, but use fresh ones for the best result— the creatures will continue to rot while they're reanimated, and at a faster rate than if they were left untouched. The ability 'Danse Macabre' allows user to give a group of Creatures the same order and have them all act at once— normally, the more Creatures the user gives orders to, the more energy it takes. But Danse Macabre lets user give one singular order to the entire army. Though, it automatically gives the same order to every single Creature, meaning no other orders can be performed at that time. Wormwood can also choose to reanimate just one singular bone— though it won't be able to do anything. For a Creature to be useful, they must be able to move, which means the body must have the muscles and bone structure necessary TO move.

Method of Activation: User touching the corpse of an animal.

Limit: The creatures only 'live' until the next sunrise after they were first created— after that they fall apart into bloody bits of gore and then turn to dust.

Range: 3m

Oh Hello is a hulking, dark blue blue, robotic torso with a cute white and brown cartoon dog head with a halo above it. It sounds like a dog. Its small, adorable cartoon mouth shaped like a sideways 3 isn't its true mouth. If you get close enough to it, its true mouth opens, and it's giant, filled with razor sharp teeth.

And here are the songs their Stands were named after!

Here's the website I used to make the parameters

Annnnd here's some miscellaneous art!

Tagging my moots who I know like JoJo >:3

@bunniehunn @faefum @gingacat

(if I forgot someone PLEAAAAAASE LET ME KNOW. I need to have you all on a L I S T so I know who I can yap about JoJo with 👁️👁️)

#jojo oc #jjba oc #jojo fan stand #jjba fan stand #jjba fan character #🌻tomoe #🐰irina #🥊spike #🐚junia #🐝veronica #🩸victor #🦢artemisia #moony's ocs

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angeart · 6 months ago

Note

How dare Link correctly predict my reaction to teases, how dare (<3) YES I wanna know what prompted the upset, what well meaning thing went so wrong D: And that bit about still hoping to be loved breaks my heart for them

-🎀

the bit about still hoping to be loved broke my heart too, and that's why i needed to include it <3

so, about hermits wanting to help them. one smaller example is them taking a look at scar's tattered wings and suggesting that maybe they could help fix them. which is good!

but this comes after scar having his wings like this for about a year, and it took a long time for him to learn to accept them as they are. he's no longer ashamed of them, seeing them simply as a part of himself now. (the same way his scars have always been)

and, sure, he will still take a chance at having them healed, but it still rubs him wrong, in a way. even though it's a kind, well-meaning offer. because it proposes that he needs to be fixed.

but a whole big issue stems from something else.

we know scar and grian have changed.

grian, in particular, flinches a lot and seems scared. scar, on the other hand, often shields grian, and calls on his vex traits to intimidate the danger away, showing he's not afraid to fight. (he is afraid. he's constantly afraid.) and they're both awfully codependent, clinging to each other and isolating from everyone else.

[1,7k rambles and ~3,2k rp snippets below the cut]

one of the things they leaned into in that other world was their hybrid traits. and they show in the way they interact with each other, you know? the way they express trust and love and know what the other one needs.

well, scar is a vex.

we know there's a mating bite, but that's not everything. him and grian indulge in a lot of biting and blood related stuff. all consensual! grian is a little freak so he likes it!

it's something the two of them do, privately and intimately. it's safe, it's fun, it's theirs. them being insanely in love and ready to give all of themselves over. lose all of control on both sides, at least for a moment, in a world that hardly allows such a thing.

but here's the issue: the others don't know anything about any of it. they don't know what scar and grian have been through. they don't know anything about vex instincts or mating rituals. they don't understand anything about this new thing.

so when they see grian timid, bruised and bitten? and they know that scar seems more violent now, sharp-fanged and clawed?

let's just say they get concerned. and stage a bit of an intervention.

they just want to make sure that grian is okay! it... should be a good thing. except they've separated them and are now cornering grian, asking all these questions and voicing all these assumptions. and it's a bit awful, actually.

grian is pressed into having to explain that yeah, actually, he wanted all of that. that it's love.

but him naming the so obvious damage love just rings more alarm bells. and maybe someone asks him if it's a form of self harm, to allow that to happen to him? like, if grian seeks it out, is it self destructive? is that why he craves it?

and sort of, him and scar spiral about this in different ways.

grian struggles with untangling his way out of it, because what if they're right? what if he subconsciously sought harm? but he liked it? is it wrong to enjoy it? he knows that he had his moments when he was actively trying to bring himself damage. mostly aimed at his wings—plucking out his feathers and such. but is this just another thing like that? a substitute damage of sorts? was he just oblivious this whole time?

grian never had a previous relationship experience, so he really can't tell what is love. where does it end and Something Bad begins? he associates the bites with love, but is that bad? is he wrong? would it feel different if someone else showed him that love is something else? did he just manipulate himself into feeling like this and now he's in too deep?

at least he knows scar would never hurt him if grian says no. if grian doesn't want it. but... if grian wants it... is it self destructive? is that what it means? or maybe he was just chasing the aftermath? the soft care (that scar'd offer regardless)?

his mind is a mess and he can't figure out what his real feelings in this all are. he doesn't know how to figure it out. he gets really confused and worried and scared. (he's terrified that they're right, not necessarily for himself, but because of what that'd do to scar.) (he's scared that scar will blame himself over this. that no matter the outcome, this is inevitably going to mess something up between the two of them.)

in the meanwhile, scar feels like a monster. like maybe he was doing something wrong this whole time. was he enabling something horrible? was he genuinely hurting grian this whole time, unaware?

because he's a vex, and it makes sense to want this on his end, but grian is an avian, and... maybe scar should've questioned it more? shouldn't have been so eager to indulge? did he do something irreparably cruel without meaning to?

through this all, he reassures grian it's okay to take a break from it, or even to completely stop. it's fine! it's always been fine! but despite that, their feelings continue to spiral, caught in a maze they can't escape.

it used to be so simple. back in the vex commune. scar never had to doubt himself and the way they express their love. not when it came to this.

and now suddenly it seems so different. so vile and wrong and horrible. people are genuinely concerned and scar and grian wonder, separately, if maybe they're right to be?

... eventually they both hurtle towards a breaking point. and scar decides he needs to talk to someone about it. and grian decides he needs to be alone for a moment, becoming overwhelmed, needing some space to think.

i really want to tell you about what happens in the talk scar has with the others, but i can't. not quite yet.

anyway, this is where the breakdowns come in. (yes. multiple.)

first is scar's during the conversation he has. he gets to hear a lot of good, wise, reassuring things, but ultimately, he still needs to hear from grian. he's been trying so hard not to influence grian's conclusion to all of this, but. he needs to know grian's thoughts, once grian is ready.

grian is not ready. he's been growing so emotionally worn out from all of this, so volatile and fragile. it's all a bit Too Much.

scar messages him, checking up on him.

are you okay?

and

i'm here waiting for you whenever you come back

and

but i'll come find you if you want me to

and

i love you

... but here's the thing, right? neither scar nor grian are used to comms anymore. so grian doesn't read any of that.

they regress back to what they know.

scar howls.

grian chirps.

and only then does scar's comm ping.

come.

zero hesitation, scar unfolds his wings and jumps off the balcony, rushing towards where that chirp came from. he's being called. he's being wanted.

he'd go anywhere for grian.

he finds grian perched atop a tree. struggles to climb up, but never falters. because grian's now starting to cry, and scar needs to be there.

tucked safely into scar's gentle, loving arms, grian breaks down.

with a hitched sob, grian falls forwards into scar's arms, burrowing easily into the warmth and familiarity and security.

he wants to say he's sorry. he's sorry this is so hard for him. he's sorry he can't untangle this; sorry he can no longer tell which are his feelings and which are just things people have suggested he might feel. he's sorry he's making this so difficult. he's sorry he's worrying everyone.

but words evade him as scar's arms provide just enough safety for his guards to crumble lower, making him just sob instead.

and believe it or not, somewhere in the midst of this (hey do have a proper talk, if a bit tear-drenched) is scar's second breakdown. (grian's time to hold him!!!) that's where the rp snippet in the previous ask is from. and you'll get more of that in a second.

first i just need to tease the aftermath, because i'm a menace.

after crying and comforting their hearts out, they fly(!!!) back. there's immense relief to wind in grian's feathers, and a dangerous edge of the feeling of freedom it brings, wanting to soothe all the cracks on his soul... but the truth is, his soul is still cracked. and he's still depleted. he knows he's still hovering over something so incomprehensibly fragile. that the smallest prod will set him off and break him again.

they arrive at their nest—scar first, to warn their company not to ask questions, grian second.

it doesn't stop it from happening. grian was right: the smallest thing can set him off.

so he has another breakdown, possibly a bigger one, drawing on far deeper hurt that screams and tears at his heart. and plunges all three other people in the room into breakdowns of their own <3333

(yes that's the part we can't talk about. yet.)

aNYWAY!!! how about some rp bits.

---------------

SCAR

Despite Grian’s crying being entirely contagious— or perhaps Scar is just simply too empathetic and emotional himself— Scar’s had practice with consoling his sweet bird. He knows what he ought to do here.

He tightens his hold until it’s snug and secure, then pressed a few little kisses to whatever part of Grian’s head he can reach.

And then he talks.

“I knew you’d be up in a tree somewhere.” His voice wobbles a bit, but it’s alright. “I wanted to give you some time… I missed you though. Like immediately.”

He chuckles softly, knowing their bond borders on codependent, even if it’s something they’ve worked on since they’ve gotten home. Still, it’s okay to poke fun at it, he thinks. It’s okay to admit the truth.

GRIAN

grian's sobs quiet down a little as scar talks, energy redirected to hook into the familiar rumble of his slightly quivery voice, sniffling as he listens to what scar has to say.

it's sometimes hard to decipher the meaning of sentences when he gets like this, but scar doesn't seem to expect an answer; he's not asking him anything, and grian's grateful for being given time, a grace period where he can just cling and cry and calm down while scar holds him.

he laugh-sobs at the note that it was obvious he'd be in a tree. he's given scar a lot of hard time in the past until he figured out that lesson, but now he always knows unfailingly where to search when grian's heart needs him after cowardly isolation.

he comes every time. he comes and he finds him and he holds him.

grian sniffles, despondent, burrowing tighter in. he chirps a little to encourage scar to go on, to keep talking; the sound of it is shaky, about to fall apart to pieces, but he thinks it still counts. it's still something. a participation, not leaving scar stranded and alone in this.

OK LOOK WE HAVE TO SKIP AHEAD HERE BECAUSE [REDACTED] REASONS

GRIAN

grian hums again, fond and soft, slumped against scar with utmost trust. and then he finally says it. "'m sorry."

SCAR

"Hey, none of that, mister," Scar says, shaking his head into Grian's hair in more of a no than a nuzzle now. "It was a lot, it's okay. You needed a moment."

He places another kiss.

"And you knew I'd be here in a heartbeat when you were ready, right?" Scar grins sheepishly.

GRIAN

grian's hands trace idle patterns on scar's back as he gets comforted by words and another kiss. he closes his eyes, taking it in, before replying with a soft little "yeah."

SCAR

Scar purrs at the affection, openly so. "Doin' a little better now?"

GRIAN

grian nods, still right against scar, clingily pressed into him. "yeah, i... yeah."

SCAR

Scar doesn't budge, not interested in releasing his darling bird just yet. "...what's on your mind?" he prompts softly, hoping to get a glimpse at Grian's inner turmoil.

GRIAN

with eyes still closed, grian lets the pause linger just a moment, before replying with a quiet but honest, "right now? how nice this feels."

SCAR

Scar chuckles again, a little anxiety getting settled by that fact, though certainly not all. "Oh, well that's good, yes. I agree with that sentiment entirely."

GRIAN

"good," grian purrs, squeezing at scar. "'coz i don't wanna lose it."

SCAR

Scar's ears twitch, something awfully depressing in those few words. "Hey, no, never," he assures. "This is never going away, okay?"

Since he seriously doubts cuddling is about to give anyone the wrong ideas.

GRIAN

grian has to swallow several times for his feelings to not go off the rails again. he takes a shaky breath, still squeezing at scar, as if he was afraid he might disappear. "... okay."

SCAR

"And neither am I!" Scar tacks on, even if it should go without saying. Even if it may be a little dramatic. But he thinks maybe Grian needs to hear that fact stated with absolute certainty. "I love you too dang much."

GRIAN

that gets grian to loosen his grip a little, enough to shuffle and look up. hair messy and eyes glistening and red rimmed, he looks up at scar with so much aching adoration, it feels like he might drown.

"i think it's okay if— if we love each other in our own way," he says sheepishly. he ducks down, laying his head on scar's shoulder, feeling shy as his hands go back to tracing patterns on scar's lower back. "even if the others don't understand or agree." there's a precipice of a pause, and then the most timid little "... right?"

SCAR

Scar's heart stutters, and his ears flick up again with carefully optimistic anticipation at Grian's words. His eyes threaten to flood over again, but the tears feel different, more cathartic, less miserable.

He tucks his head over Grian's again, brushing his cheek over his locks affectionately, daring to release a few hopeful tears as Grian says what he desperately hoped he might.

"I..." he starts, still trying not to influence this decision if he can help it, but... "I think so. ...I mean it's—" He thinks of [REDACTED], and chuckles wetly, morphing them in his own Scar-silly way. "It's not really anyone else's business what we do in the bedroom, is it?"

GRIAN

grian's hands still against scar's back, simply holding him for a moment as he soaks up scar's nuzzles. there's wetness to them, something that makes grian's heart ache as he worries about all the possible meanings, but hopes against all hope that it's just scar getting positively emotional—a relief of sorts above all else.

a small strained chuckle makes it past his lips, and he muffles it into a kiss that he presses into scar's shoulder. "right. exactly."

SCAR

Scar weakly smiles, giving Grian a squeeze. "...but seriously, I— you know it's okay if we stop, right? If you ever change your mind— and I mean your mind, nobody else's— then it's fine! But... I... yeah." Another squeeze. "I just want to be sure you know that."

GRIAN

there's a barely stifled sigh, but no hint of tension pools across grian's back. his hold remains still and gentle, his head idly leaning on scar's shoulder. "i know," he murmurs.

SCAR

"Good," Scar states, ducking lower so his forehead presses into Grian for a moment before releasing just enough so he could escape the big bear hug if he wanted. “... you know, [REDACTED]”

WE ARE ACTUALLY TAKING ANOTHER LEAP, ANOTHER SKIP, ANOTHER SCRIBBLED OUT SECTION. bear with us <33

SCAR

[REDACTED VERY REDACTED] “I mean, I had to learn all this vex stuff, too. It’s not… I mean it’s certainly not the most family-friendly sort of culture but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, does it?”

GRIAN

grian blinks at that, lifting his head in attention. this really surprises him, for some reason. that [WOO REDACTED AGAIN WOW]

"oh." he takes a moment, leaning slightly back, inviting scar's touch a little bit further. "yeah... yeah, i think he's—" he bounces the words around in his head again, then settles on: "it's a learning curve every way, isn't it? whenever there's new instincts and..." he skirts around the words mating rituals, feeling a faint warmth rise up to his cheeks. he looks away briefly, teething at his bottom lip as he thinks of all the worries he himself used to have, all the mistakes kane made, all the effort and talking and correcting it took for things to finally have it all sink in the proper way.

he clears his throat, shyly looking back at scar, but then his gaze anchors and softens. his hand travels up from scar's chin, brushing through his hair, tucking a strand behind his ears. "it's not wrong."

SCAR

“It’s not?” Scar asks meekly, even though he was the one to propose so first. To have Grian confirm it is so much more important. Because even if they can agree it’s not wrong for Scar to have sought out these things, ultimately he wants it to be right for Grian as well.

Scar chews at his lip nervously, but still tilts toward the offered affection, absolutely weak to it.

GRIAN

"mmm." grian lets his fingers brush through scar's hair again, gentle with him at every step. "it's not wrong," he repeats softly.

SCAR

Scar opens his eyes, both of them glistening with potential tears, but he offers up a weak, wobbly smile, appreciating every graze of Grian’s fingers. “…is it— it’s not wrong for you either?”

GRIAN

grian takes in scar's expression and he leans in for a short kiss. "it's not wrong for me," he murmurs, right over scar's lips.

and maybe he still feels confused, and maybe he still has some exploring and figuring out to do, just to really settle things in his heart, but he knows scar will be there with him every step of the way. just like he knows that [REDACTED] is right—scar is good for him.

and he wants all of him.

SCAR

The tears fall alongside a pitiful little chuckle, but Scar leans right back in for another kiss, not caring at all for the wetness that streaks down his cheeks.

They can match now. It’s fine.

“I… I’m—?” Scar falters, and he laughs again, ducking his head down in slight embarrassment. He can’t even bring himself to say it. To even imply that he was worried that he was wrong for Grian. “…okay.”

GRIAN

the sight of tears breaks grian's heart. still keeping one arm around scar, hoping it'd make him feel close and secure, he lowers his other hand from scar's hair to his cheek, gently collecting the wetness even as scar leans in for a kiss. (one that grian gladly gives.)

even though scar doesn't finish his question, grian can connect the dots. he remembers the time when he himself thought he's not good for scar, and he knows how awful and heavy that self doubt was.

with utmost tenderness, he kisses scar's cheek, right in the path of wetness, while his fingers gently brush the tears on the other side. "scar." it's quiet, reverent. irredeemably loving.

he pulls away, wanting scar to look at him as he says this. his wings twitch, brushing over scar's, curling inwards towards him. pressing against scar's sides under scar's wings as grian lets go of his back in favour of cupping his face, thumbs brushing over cheeks.

"scar, you're good for me."

he strings up the words, slow and deliberate and certain.

SCAR

It’s Scar’s turn to break again, clearly, as his eyes water over and big, wet tears fall down his cheeks and collect over Grian’s hands. He doesn’t even have words to respond with, just wide, grateful eyes and wobbly lips that can’t decide between a cry or a smile.

His hands also find their way over Grian’s, though one escapes to run his own thumb over Grian’s cheek in turn, still feeling the dampness there. It’s oddly comforting.

“…sometimes I worry the hermits don’t think that,” he admits, gaze flicking away as he tries to keep a strong facade. (Hard to do while he’s actively crying, but it could certainly be worse.)

GRIAN

"oh, scar." grian sighs, heartbroken, brows pulling into a pained frown upon hearing that admission. he can hardly bear this, knowing scar's been made to feel like this.

he leans in to press a kiss to his forehead, wings slinking further along, wrapping around scar right underneath his vex wings. he wants to cocoon them into warmth and safety, away from these treacherous feelings.

the hermits managed to somehow break both of them down, with nothing more than good intentions.

grian hates the uncertain, askew feeling that pushes bitter bile up his throat, telling him maybe they're not quite right for this place anymore. that they forgot how to belong, but nobody has caught up yet and still expects them to be their selves that they can no longer reach.

“you know [REDACTED I AM SO SORRY]” he attempts a smile, though it's hard. he tugs at scar, wanting to pull him in for a hug, tuck him underneath his own chin, all safe and protected, but he leaves it up to scar whether he wants that or needs more breathing room right now.

"maybe they need time. i... i've been hiding away a lot and. honestly i don't think they can tell what's good for me anymore. not right now." it's hard to admit. "even if they mean well." but well-meaning that hurts both him and scar is just meddlesome.

maybe they needed this though, in a way. it would be better if it came from a different place, subtler, gentler, but still. maybe they needed to work through exactly these feelings.

"anyone who says you're not good for me will get smacked," he threatens, remembering scar's (and kane's) offers to bite people who look at grian wrong, in a way returning the favour. "'coz they're wrong and they have no business spewing nonsense."

SCAR

Scar gladly takes up the offer to be smothered in affection, and he boldly chooses to corporealize his wings fully and gently tug them around the base of Grian's, knowing well that wing-on-wing contact is almost always acceptable. And right now that sort of thing brings immense comfort to him, too. It's something they both share, after all. A pair of wings and a pair of patched up hearts.

"I know they mean well..." Scar whines into Grian's chest this time, and though there's no cozy shawl to bury himself in, it's just as comforting. "but they don't know everything, and... and I know that's mostly on us, but god it's just... it's so much sometimes, Grian."

It's not exactly pleasant to recall those memories. To try to explain just how horrific it was to their old friends. To look them in the eyes and admit that they're different now because they had to be. (And how they still hope to be loved despite it all.)

GRIAN

grian wraps scar up in his arms, holding him close. one hand in scar's hair, the other sliding down between his shoulderblades, rubbing at that point between his wings, unaware he's copying exactly what [REDACTED] did earlier.

the pressure of scar's wings over his own helps him settle a little, gives him comfort and courage through this glass-shards of a conversation.

"they don't know everything," he echoes quietly, kissing the top of scar's head before he leans his cheek on it, cradling him. "i just wish..." he closes his eyes and tugs at scar, holds him a little bit tighter. he doesn't really know how to finish that sentence; all the words feel like they're crashing and splintering over sharp cliffs.

all that's left in the rubble is a weary sense of defeat. "it is so much," he agrees. "it's so tiring to... they expect us to be..." he doesn't finish any of his sentences, but he wonders if scar understands anyway.

SCAR

Scar understands perfectly. He nods softly as he listens, lulled in by those soft touches, tears drying as he lets Grian’s presence fully engulf him.

“…they expect us to be the same,” Scar finishes for him, certain that Grian’s had the same trouble he has, though perhaps to a different degree. “And… maybe we won’t ever be. But… I don’t think all the ways we changed are bad. Like— sure, we’re still messed up and jumpy and… and I mean, frankly traumatized, but…” There’s an effort to poke his head up, but Scar finds himself too reluctant to leave the comfort of Grian’s arms just yet. “We’re also in love. And… we have a new appreciation for life. And each other.” A half-sniffle, half-chuckle gets stuffed into Grian’s chest. “…is that too sappy?”

GRIAN

grian chuckles mirthlessly at the list of things they suck at, their reactions and trauma stitched close to them like their shadow, endless and monstrous, looming behind their every step. but scar is right: they have changed in so many messed up ways, and they might never be the same, but... it's not all bad.

"we're in love," grian echoes, a notch lighter, just a little bit amused that the list of dark things ends with a complete shift, plunging them into sappiness. it's such a scar-like thing to do; he's aware of just how bad things have gotten, but that doesn't mean he won't fight to dredge up every little optimistic and hopeful thing out of it anyway.

grian loves it. it's gotten him through many dark times, this quality that scar has. his tenacious way of thinking and latching onto bright things, even if it's a barely flickering flame amidst complete, terrifying darkness.

he kisses his head again and then nuzzles against his hair, humming. "it's scar level sappy," he replies, mulling it, before landing on: "which means it's perfect."

the only time scar's level of sappy is too much is when he's flustering grian, but he's not going to point that out, in case scar takes it as a challenge to compare the two right here and right now. (he'd be capable. grian knows.)

he rubs at scar's back again, humming a soft melody, wanting to calm him further. but there's one thing even he can unearth from the ashes, something written into all their stitches and scars.

"we survived."

nothing can beat that. no matter how they've changed, or what they can now see in a different light.

they made it.

"and we're good for each other."

SCAR

Scar giggles at the term. Scar-level sappy, indeed. His own brand of optimism, wrapped in layers of insecurity but boundless levels of adoration.

And it got him this far, didn’t it?

“We survived,” Scar repeats, because that’s so damn important. They survived. And they did it because they were together.

Because they’re good together.

“…the power of love,” Scar adds, soft and sentimental and maybe just a bit goofy, hoping to turn the tides from tears to mirthful laughter.

GRIAN

once again he gets grian to giggle in a fragile moment—a talent scar has and grian values. in retaliation, he shifts his hands, brings them much closer, until he can tease at scar's ears.

"we survived, so now i can do this!" his cheeks are still wet, and he feels depleted from all the heavy emotions, but he still manages a grin as he tries to make scar squirm.

SCAR

Scar barks out a fit of genuine laughter, somewhat startled by the shift, but he can’t complain when his lips are suddenly tipped into a bright smile and his ears are flicking wildly at the affectionate abuse.

“Hey!! No fair! I’ve been so gentle!!” he cackles, already shedding that mercy and tickling at Grian’s ribs.

---------------

aaand i'm going to end on this note (because you know it devolves again. we're good at making things fall apart repeatedly <3 a great angst loop if you ask me.)

but, i'm going to leave you with a little bonus. which is what me and link talked about today. on this same topic, really.

which is how scar changed. hermits know him as the guy who dies a lot, right? also easily distracted, carefree, easily dissipating into giggles, easily brushing things off. all of that.

he could get startled by a fly. he'd yelp and stumble and fall over when he got scared.

but that other world forced other things on him. it forced him to be brave, or at least, to seem like it. forced him to fight to keep himself and grian safe. fight for them both to survive.

now when he gets scared? there are wings and claws and fangs.

he couldn't show weakness in that world, you know?

and it sticks. it sinks its talons into him and holds.

the only person he shows weakness around is grian. and... maybe if he'd been willing to show it more around the other hermits, they'd see that he's still scar.

that he's still scar and he's hurting and afraid.

(yes blame link for this heartbreak brb sobbing with u)

also. a potential conversation:

someone saying to grian (while scar is also possibly there): "scar came back... wrong."

grian angrily counters with "no, scar came back different but not wrong."

and then

quieter

"... i came back wrong."

because, think about it. scar changed, but it can be argued that some of it is better and he's just being misunderstood. but grian? grian can't imagine any good coming from how he's now.

he didn't grow braver or kinder or stronger or any of those things. he just caused [REDACTED]. he's a scared, hurting mess. there's nothing good about him now.

as link said in our discord dms: scar needs to scoop grian up and remind him that he's here for the whole ride. he'll be here while grian learns to heal.

because he will heal.

#ange answers #ribbon anon #hhau #cw abuse allegations #cw self harm #uh #i don't know what's a good tag to use to make this safe #if i need to add any cws please please do not hesitate to let me know!!!#vex scar #this is post return pre wedding #buch of this was flat out copied from discord dms #so hopefully it makes sense all stitched together #angst and breakdowns #also yes here's a proof we wildly swing in the rp reply length #from a single line to “all the way to discord nitro character limit”#sorry for the redacted bits #it was the only way i could share all this with u #pls don't hate #(but also. are you scared of all the REDACTED bits yet—)#one day (if i'll remember) i'll uncover all of these redacted parts #grian and scar struggle so so so hard with letting people in after everything #hope u enjoyed this mess <33 #fyi the biting thing started in the hotspring bit which i am still uhhhh #working on those rambles

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urathestardragon777 · 6 months ago

Text

AdamsApple Unrequited Love AU pt 2/??

It was early in the morning, earlier than anyone else in the hotel was up maybe except for that deer bastard but he was no where to be seen so Adam didn't see any point in worrying about the annoying fucker. He was always an early morning person, even in Heaven, even when he was still alive. He rose before the sun to do his chores and to just have time to himself, he hated how comfortable everyone in the hotel was becoming with him, how they included him into more of their activities and conversations; but, no one else was up to bother him, even his sweet beloved daughters who had become even more clingy since they all reincarnated in Hell.

The old angel made his way to the backyard of the hotel, it was an ugly plot of land with weeds and overgrown bushes and other Hell flowers, it was unkempt and wild and Adam loved it, he loved the strange looking foliage and how it seemed to mimic the plant life on earth. Often he would come out and sketch all the different plants and coming up with names for them but today wasn't the morning for it -no- today was yoga day. Even if he no longer fought through the hoards of Hell didn't mean he couldn't stay in shape and he has let himself go these past couple of centuries, he also missed his six pack.

Just as he went to put his mat down the back door was thrown open followed by a loud yawn.

"Beautiful morning isn't!? Nice and quiet!"

Adam let out a loud growl to let the person know that they were not wanted. At. All.

Said person ignored the warning growl and walked closer. "The air is practically filled with brimstone and the screams of the damned." They nosily slurped their drink, invading Adam's personal space, "Please, don't let me stop you."

Adam: Get lost Samael.

He snarled louder at the shorter man.

Lucifer: Don't be rude Addy, it's too early in the morning to be a meany.

Adam: There's never good time to see your stupid face. Now, leave me alone.

Adam sat down in lotus pose and closed his eyes, he wasn't going to feed into the bullshit, wasn't going to give Lucifer that kind of power of him. He clenched his fist as the fallen angel sat down next to him. It took everything in the bull demon not to punch the goat-faced fucker in his dumb reptile face. Like really!- how did he look like both at the same time, it was weird and Adam always got the urge just to claw the other demon's face off.

Lucifer: Do you do this every morning? Are you always up this early or could you not sleep? Nightmare? It had to be nightmares, probably about-

Adam used his wing to cover Lucifer's mouth.

Adam: I'm only going to tell you this one time, you can either fuck off or because I know you're an annoying jerk you can stay and be quiet. Which means do not talk.

He moved his wing and sighed when nothing came out the Devil's mouth. The silence lasted longer than he thought, he was able to get through his warm up breathing and stretching it was when he got to cow face pose the talking started again.

Lucifer: Wow, you are really flexible aren't you? Have you always been that bendy?

Adam: What did I say, Samael?

Lucifer: I'm just trying to talk with an old friend, is that so bad?

Adam: We are not friends.

Lucifer: But we can be, if you stop being a grumpy bull~.

Lucifer poked Adam in his side. Adam once again used a wing this time to smack Lucifer in the head as he went back into a normal sitting position.

Lucifer: Oow! What was that for?

Adam: Why are you here Samael?

Lucifer: It's Lucifer, and I told you: I want to talk with an old friend, be friends again maybe?

Adam let out a short, unamused laugh as he turned to face Lucifer.

Adam: What makes you think we can be friends after what you've done?

Lucifer: Because it's all in the past Adam, it's been what a million years since Eden?

Adam: You cursed me and my family for the rest of time, and seduced my wives.

His wings flared out in anger. Lucifer curls in on himself slightly, he wasn't afraid of Adam but when the first man looked down on him, eyes gleaming with anger and fury that whole 'Made in His image' thing shone through. Funny enough, it was now Adam's inhuman features that made him look even more like God, it was weird and thrilling at the same time so Lucifer like always pushed forward, testing the waters.

Lucifer: And I deeply regret that, I really do! But, I gave you freedom, the chance not be stuck under His thumb, the chance to be great.

Adam: You almost killed me.

Lucifer: How was i supposed to know you were allergic to apples?

Adam: You fucker, it's been logged in my throat for eons!

Adam points to the lump in his throat ironically right under his adams apple. Lucifer has enough decency to look ashamed.

Adam: What do you really want from me?

Lucifer placed a clawed hand on top of Adam's much, much larger hand and looked up with a soft look.

Lucifer: I want us to start over and try again.

He reached up with his other hand and gently turned Adam's face so they were looking at one another.

Lucifer: I want you. Please Adam.

Adam took a moment to study Lucifer, he was small and dainty (always had been), he didn't look much different than he had in Eden. In Eden he was more bird like, Adam always joked that the angel reminded him of a cockatrice but when he first laid eyes on Lucifer it was like his first time seeing a swan fly just above a lake. His wing were pure white and shimmered in the sun, his hair was longer, like beams of light, eyes blue and clear. Even now there was something alluring about the fallen Seraphim, he was feminine yet masculine, timid yet bold, there was false innocence wrapped in sly seductive silk. Adam could see how Lilith and Eve and many others were lured in by the Serpent but Adam could see past the mesmerizing shiny scales disguised as jewels, he saw the fangs dipped in honeyed poison. Had been bitten by them before and would not suffer that pain again even though it would be so easy to let the venom flow through his veins and let himself be swept away by the siren's song.

He pushed Lucifer back down from where the man had climbed into his lap. Lucifer looked confused.

Lucifer: Adam?

Adam: I'm not something to own.

Lucifer: I never said you were.

Adam: Or something to check off your list, you got Lilith and Eve guess I'm the only one left you haven't slept with.

Lucifer: You're so much more than that to me Adam! You've always been someone precious to me.

Adam wanted to pull his hair out! Lucifer was a walking ball of contradiction, he didn't understand the man at all, didn't understand how you could hurt someone you consider precious so many times, then rub it in their face at every chance. How many times had he bragged about how easy it was to get Lilith and Eve to cheat and betray Adam? How many times had Lucifer made fun of him for being a devoted follower of God? He literally nearly beat Adam to death, yeah it was to protect his daughter but what about all the children Adam lost to Lucifer because of that fucking apple? Why was he not justified in being furious and vengeful?

With a frustrated snarl Adam shoved Lucifer to the ground with the shorter man's thin wrist traped in one of his hands, the other one used to keep himself propped up, his large bulky body caged Lucifer in and bathed him in shadows. He was sick of Lucifer playing with his emotions, sick of feeling like he was powerless, he wasn't a weak human anymore, hadn't been for a long time. He didn't know what kind of game Lucifer was playing but he could play his own, he'd break Lucifer just like Lucifer broke him.

Lucifer couldn't help the excited shiver that ran down his spine all the way to the top of his tail.

Adam: You want to start over? Fine we can start over but it'll be on my terms understand?

Adam squeezed Lucifer's wrist hard enough the king thought they would shatter, it didn't scare him, no, it made his heart beat faster and his face flush gold.

Adam: Understand?

Lucifer: Y-yes.

Angel Dust: Hey Charlie said breakfast is- I knew it! Husk!! You owe me big time!

Adam groaned and got off of Lucifer as Angel Dust ran back inside, well breakfast was going to be awful. He brushed the dirt off himself and went back inside without a second glance to Lucifer who was still sprawled out on the ground trying to catch his breath. Adam wanted to start over. He had another chance to make everything right. Lilith was gone but it didn't matter, it was him and Adam again, just like in the beginning, just as it should have been from the start.

#adamsapple #hazbin adam #hazbin lucifer #hazbin fanfic #Maybe there are no happy endings #one sided love #Adam dead names Lucifer #Lucifer just wants his soulmate #Lilith slander #There's plot now #Adam's pov

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zeciex · 8 days ago

Note

Here is a Pokémon team for our favorite Rogue Prince, Daemon Targaryen. Daemon's team proved to be the HARDEST to pick. Fire and Dragon types had to be represented, obviously, but I also felt that he would want Pokémon that could go toe to toe against Otto's Pokémon. And again I had to think that Aemond, Dae, and Rhaenyra would be inspired by Daemon's Pokémon and want some that were on his team. It was rough, and it took longer than I expected, but I think I landed on a team of 6 that Daemon would agree with.

Gigantamax Charizard:

From my understanding, a gigantamax evolution is permanent. A Gigantamax Charizard is the most powerful form of a Charizard, so of course Daemon would want one. Like a regular Charizard, a Gigantamax Charizard is a dual Fire/Flying type. As a Fire type, Charizard would be super effective against Otto's Ice and Steel types. I also feel Rhaenyra and Aemond were inspired by Daemon's Charizard to have one of their own. Description below:

"Charizard flies in search of powerful opponents to battle, and its fire will burn hotter as it gains experience. Its fiery breath can melt boulders and massive glaciers and has been known to cause forest fires accidentally. Though its fiery breath is hot, it never turns it on any opponent weaker than itself.

As Gigantamax Charizard, it becomes larger and more physically fit. Due to being enhanced by Gigantamax energy, the fire within Charizard's body has become much stronger, burning hotter than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,000 degrees Celsius) and continuing to rise in temperature when Gigantamax Charizard roars. When using its signature G-Max Move, G-Max Wildfire, it launches its colossal fiery wings in the shape of a bird, which circles opponents while continuously scorching them with flames even hotter than magma."

Mega Garchomp:

Mega evolutions aren't permanent, but I feel Daemon is rich enough to keep buying the Garchompite needed to keep mega evolving it for battles. A dual Dragon/Ground type, Garchomp is as fast in the air as it is underground. It is a fierce and powerful Pokémon, which I feel a younger Daemon would go after. And Aemond would be inspired by Daemon's Garchomp to get his own. Description below:

"Garchomp can fly at an incredible speed to catch its prey, being capable of flying as fast as a jet, cutting down trees with its blades of wind, a magnificent sight to witness. It is able to move in both the air and underground. It preys on bird Pokémon and is known to eat entire flocks of them whole. It sometimes battles Salamence in the air as they compete for food. After catching prey, it returns to its den before its body can cool down. The fine scales on its body reduce drag for easier flight, and their sharp edges also serve to injure opponents who attack it directly. It can use its protuberances as sensors for finding distinct prey. Garchomp lives in mountainous regions, both volcanic and boreal, and typically dwells underground. However, it is seldom sighted in the wild. Garchomp is described as having a feral nature, requiring extreme caution should anyone encounter it.

When Garchomp Mega Evolves, several of its features become more angular, including its head and shoulders. A row of five tooth-like spikes sprouts from each side of its abdomen and red spikes grow from its knees. The claws and fins on its arms melt from the excessive Mega Evolution energy and morph together to form sharp, red blades. Because Garchomp takes great pride in its winglike fins, it is enraged at the sight of them melting into scythes. Its scythes can slice the ground to pieces, and Mega Garchomp viciously tears up its opponents with them."

Gallade:

Gallade is a dual Psychic/Fighting type. It is a master of swordsmanship and excellent in physical combat. But the big draw for Daemon would be its type advantage over Otto's Pokémon. As a Psychic type itself, it would be resistant to Psychic moves from Otto's Psychic types, and as a Fighting type, it would be super effective against Otto's Dark and Ice types. I feel Rhaenyra would have been inspired by Daemon's Gallade, and thus Daemon would have gotten Rhaenyra a Ralts as a gift when she was younger. Dae would have been inspired by Rhaenyra and Daemon's Gardevoir and Gallade as well, and her Ralts would be the child of Rhaenyra's Gardevoir and Daemon's Gallade. As a note, only males can turn into Gallade with the help of a Dawn Stone, otherwise they'll turn into a Gardevoir. Gardevoir can be either male or female, whereas Gallade can only be male. Gallade's description is below:

"It is a master of courtesy and swordsmanship capable of predicting its foe's moves, allowing it to strike preemptively. True to Gallade's honorable warrior image, it is just as protective of its Trainer as its counterpart, Gardevoir, using the blades on its elbows to defend. The shoulder blades are said to be sharper than even the best swords. Gallade is known to be sharply aware of a person's wish for help and seeks out those who need its assistance in battle, fighting savagely with fast and fierce attacks. It is capable of teaching itself swordsmanship at an impressive rate. Gallade can extend its blades at will to attack opponents from behind. This Pokémon inhabits mountainous areas. Gallade has been observed sleeping in a formal position with one knee up. It is believed that Gallade does this because, even in its sleep, it is preparing to fight and protect both humans and Pokémon at any moment."

Incinoroar:

Incinoroar is a powerful dual Fire/Dark type with an ego to give Daemon a run for his money. As a Dark type it would be completely immune to Otto's Psychic type Pokémon and super effective against his Ghost type, and as a Fire type it would be super effective against his Ice and Steel types.

"Incineroar's flame belt is produced from within its body and bursts from its navel and waist as its fighting spirit rises. In addition to spewing fire from its navel, it uses ferocious kicks and punches. Incineroar is an expert on no-holds-barred battles. The flames from its navel can reach a temperature of up to 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit. This Pokémon disregards the safety of its opponents and on-lookers, sometimes striking the opposing Trainer with attacks. Incineroar usually attacks first by unleashing both ferocious punches and flinging furious kick combos and then finishing the opponent by spewing fire from its navel. It is a violent Pokémon with rough, aggressive, and egotistical behavior. It will sometimes ignore its Trainer's orders when it is not in the mood to listen. Despite this, it finds fighting unworthy opponents boring and gets motivated to fight a challenging one. Weak or injured opponents also cause them to lose the desire to fight, which others sometimes use to their advantage.It also values the attention of the crowd as Incineroar's spirit goes up while the crowd is excited or falters when the crowd is bored. When Incineroar's fighting spirit rises, so does the temperature around its navel waist. While it tends to act like a heel, Incineroar is very happy internally when receiving the admiration of children or young Pokémon. It is also willing to help out children and small Pokémon, further showing its hidden soft side."

Ceruledge:

Ceruledge is a dual Fire/Ghost type. As a Ghost type, it would be super effective against Psychic and Ghost types, and as a Fire type it would be super effective against Ice and Steel types, all of which Otto has. Also as a Ghost it can turn invisible and be the perfect spy and assassin. No need to rely on B&C when you have this Pokémon. Description below:

"Ceruledge is merciless and will do anything to win a battle. It prefers to do close-quarters combat, with a mix of sneak and surprise attacks. By using its quick speed to locate a foe's blind spots, it will then move closer before slashing them with its large swords. Any cuts from Ceruledge's swords will cause wounds that leak life energy, which the swords then absorb. It can focus its bitter feelings into a slashing attack. The blades can emit heat even when retracted."

Liepard:

Don't let the looks fool you, Liepard is vicious. As a Dark type, it would be completely immune to Otto's Psychic types and super effective against them and his Ghost type, which would be a massive draw for Daemon. Also, I feel Dae would be inspired by Daemon's Liepard, not in the form of getting one of her own, but in the way of having a Pokémon that doesn't look all that dangerous but actually is. Description is below:

"Liepard has well-developed muscles that allows it to run silently and strike opponents from behind. It has also been known to vanish and reappear without warning. It is known to be rather moody and vicious. It competes with Thievul for territory."

What do you think of my picks for Daemon?

I remember you saying something along the lines of "no one can beat this roster" in regards to Otto's Pokémon, so I knew in that moment that when picking out Daemon's Pokémon they had to be ones that could beat Otto, because that's the type of person Daemon is. I had to go back and re-work some things because of that comment! I hope I showed you that any team of Pokémon, no matter their power or abilities, do have weaknesses and can be beaten.

I also had to think of the effect that Daemon has on Rhaenyra, Daenera, and Aemond. They would be look at the Pokémon he had and be inspired to have something similar to him. And I also had to think of what Pokémon Daemon would go for, type wise, personality wise, ability wise... it was a lot of work. This roster was the most difficult to put together, but I think in the end I put a team together that Daemon would want at his side.

I love that you were like 'let me prove you wrong' and then did THIS! I am officially proven wrong and I accept that defeat! Every choice you've made throughout all of these are SO IN CHARACTER that it's insane. And I find it amazing that with things as powerful as some of these pokémon are, that they always have a weakness--and I think that's really important to acknowledge in characters as well.

Thank you so much for sharing these! It was amazing and I learned a whole lot about pokémon!

#asked and answered

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starberry-cupcake · 2 years ago

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Serpentin Vert (aka The Dragon Husband) won my fairy tale poll, so here's more about him

Serpentin Vert is both a character and the title of a fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy, published for the first time in 1698.

Even though the name is closer to "serpent" and some illustrators have depicted him as such, d'Aulnoy's description of him is closer to a dragon than a snake, and his size is big enough to have allowed him to physically carry his bride to safety.

Here is an English translation of the description by James Robinson Planché:

He has green wings, a body of a thousand colours, ivory claws, fiery eyes, and on his head is a bristling mane of long hair.

This is him rescuing his soon-to-be bride in an illustration from the Garnier edition, circa 1850 (my favorite one of him):

Serpentin Vert (translated by Planché as Green Serpent and in Spanish by Editorial Siruela as Serpentino Verde) is a fairy tale in the category know as "The Animal as Bridegroom" (Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index's ATU 425).

Some of these, and this one is no exception, work with Cupid and Psyche as a foundation (the most popular being Beauty and the Beast), but d'Aulnoy's style doesn't just use it as reference, she includes it in the story, as a tale the lead character reads and, much like Psyche or even Orpheus, still does what she shouldn't.

The lead of the story is Laideronnette, a princess cursed by a fairy to become the ugliest person alive, while her twin sister doesn't get said curse. She exiles herself after her family treats her poorly and meets Serpentin, who falls in love with her but she rejects him, since she's afraid of him. When he talks to her without her seeing him, she distrusts him, because she doesn't believe a king would fall in love with her, but starts having feelings for the person she spends so much time talking to. Their marriage is the halfway point of the story, because it's through Laideronnette breaking her promise (much like Psyche) that she will have to face many challenges to save the dragon she has fallen in love with. Of course, like most Animal Bridegroom stories, Serpentin is actually a cursed man.

Like most fairy tales written by the salonnières, this is a very long story, that takes twists and turns, has the characters move through different settings and gets in there a couple of songs and poems. If you're more used to the Perrault-like or even Grimm-like fairy tales, you may not be too familiar with the way in which salonnières told fairy tales, but these stories, born for the entertainment from women to other women in salons, are not always devoid of lessons but are more focused on the storytelling aspect and take a lot more pages to tell the story, describe surroundings and have the characters express their turmoil to the reader (or listener, originally).

Serpentin is always gentle and caring, although able to drop an "I told you so" when he feels it's warranted. Differently from Villeneuve's Beast (or Beaumont's even), he's more eloquent throughout the story and more active as well. There is a mutual saving between him and Laideronnette and her tasks to save Serpentin come after realizing she's in love with him, which makes their relationship dynamic a longer element to develop.

The fact that they're both cursed by the same fairy also generates an interesting dynamic in which both are at the mercy of a same enemy and can bond through the isolation caused by their self-imposed exiles. Of course, this being a classic fairy tale, she doesn't remain "ugly" and he doesn't remain a dragon.

The story isn't devoid of problematic stereotypes, these were French women in the 1600s, but most of the elements included trace back to the typical inspirations for d'Aulnoy: Greek mythology, opera and the folklore shared by midwives and nurses that accompanied women through motherhood. I talked a bit more about d'Aulnoy on this post, she was wild.

Now, to some more illustrations of the man of the hour:

This one is from Harriet Mead Olcott (1919), who went more snake-like but kept the wings.

Another one from the Garnier edition, it didn't stay very consistent on the size of him.

This is a part of the engraving made by Jean-Louis Delignon over this original by Clemént-Pierre Marillier (1785):

Maria Pascual played a bit more with Laideronnette's features, but it's more evident when she's beside her sister.

And a very recent depiction came from Natalie Frank in 2017 for Jack Zipes's compilation of d'Aulnoy stories titled The Island of Happiness, I think this is after Laideronnette was already transformed and changed her name into Discrète.

Serpentin Vert is actually the first of the fairy tales I included in my virtual workshop that starts next month (in Spanish). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it won the poll because of a) the nature of this site and b) the fact that d'Aulnoy would vibe with the discourse on here if she was around. You can find the original fairy tale in French here, the Planché English translation here and the Lawrence and Bullen translation here. For the Spanish version I had to translate it myself for the workshop, but there is a good translation in Siruela's edition of El cuarto de las hadas.

#fairy tales #serpentin vert #long post #luly rambles #books #I'll reblog the poll and add a link to the post in a sec so sorry for all the reblogs

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snuffwhistlecakes · 1 year ago

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sketches of underdeveloped chipbill angels & devils AU 😈❣️💖😇

details & explanations are under the cut.

so, the main idea was that everything is nearly the same to bcg original set-up (they move into the city and yada-yada), aside from the fact, that there is 3 kinds of people on earth. the angles, supposedly good & thriving on good/nice deeds. the devils or the demons, who get their power from causing other people's misfortunes & general mischief. and then, lastly, there are the non angel/devil kind. it's like a purgatory sort of deal. as result, they don’t have any specific perks, but have an ability to eventually get into one group or another, based on their choices. or they can stay in-between, if they won't dab into extremes, or will keep mixing up bad deed with good.

now, back to angels/devil. another thing that connected with theor personal balance of evil & good, is that angle’s wings get bigger, the more nice deeds they commit. and for devils, it’s their horns. they get larger, the more power they possess. the more powerful angels and devils can control the length of their wings/horns, mostly so that it won’t get in the way, when they will be doing smth mundane.

overall, this au has a similar plot/timeline with original bcg set-up, but with some adjustments. this is also not an after-life/or religious au lol. it’s just that their universe is like this. with bill being an angel, who cannot fly, and has small wings. and chip, who eventually becomes one of higher devils (his ceo version), while manager one was more on the level of mid, average demons. on top of that, big part of chip’s plan in that universe includes seduction of bill green, bc nothing gives the devil more power, than tainting someone, who is supposed to be ‘pure’. but during his like charade, he ends up falling in love with bill, which tbf doesn’t prevent him from being evil or becoming more powerful, basically. in return, bill would try to ‘fix him’, and perhaps finally get his big, nice wings. but neither of them prob will get what they want lol.

another thing, is that changed devils/angels, don't tend to downright switch their occupations. if the angel 'fall' or the devil 'raise', they most likely will end up in purgatory. and naturally, the devils are less likely to change into anything, but become worse, vs angels, who can have a 'breakdown', and lose their wings. anyhow.....

bill can control when and how often his wings show up. mostly he just has a halo above his head, like all angels. chip has the same perk with his tail, but his horns are always presented. along with a narrow pupil. later on, as ceo, he also has longish, clawed fingers, but he can control this as well. his horns are also way-way taller and sharper. but he can mask them back into shorter form.

now, a quick side note about other characters, who exist in this universe. chip’s father is also the devil, a pretty powerful one too. but usually, he keeps his friendly facade intact, so it’s hard to understand why he's a ‘bad dude’. but welp, he is. alice is also a devil, her husband was an angel. mixing with another kind isn’t forbidden in their world, it just can cause certain difficulties. mostly the fact, that angels & devils disagree on a lot of things. anyho', tilly is an angel, but she didn’t get her wings yet. cricket is the devil, but he doesn’t have horns, only a tail lol. nancy is a non-devil/angel. she used to be the devil, but not any longer. she’s not ‘good’ enough to ever become an angel, but she no longer gets power from doing bad stuff, either. remy is an angel, bc idk how he can be anything else. his bodyguard is the devil. officer keys is the angel, bc of course he is, haha. and welp, gloria sato simply doesn’t exist in this universe, bc i don’t want her to lol. *taps chin* mm, i guess, it covers the most main characters. each would have their own arc and such, even if my main focus is always gonna be bill & chip. cuz yeah, this au exist for them. others are just kinda there.

either way, it has been forever since i drew/posted on this blog. these sketches sat inside my folder for months to come, so i decided to quickly slap color on them and post it in the way it currently is. for one, i hate piling up too many unfinished drawings (i already have like uh 10 of them lol), along with my pile of unfinished fics, so yup.

#big city greens #bcg #chip whistler #bill green #chip whistler x bill green #chipbill #billchip #snaff ort

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ask-healthy-light · 11 months ago

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Since Dragons and Kirin had similar powers of fire, Light added, even if Frost turned out to be the sole Dragoness in the whole world with control over ice, there could still be others similar to her with divergent powers; but while they understood that nobody else they ever had met knew more about Kirin than their destructive fire, Light figured there was at least some truth in their suspicions.

At that moment, however, Light quietly let out a deep sigh as they raised their hooves, before they told the others that they realised it was neither the time nor place to be discussing mere theories like these; but since they would most likely keep thinking about it for a while, Light suggested to continue their journey East, during which they would keep an eye out for any Dragons they may meet.

Though they still clearly knew what their ultimate goal was, they figured it would not hurt to make sure the group was safe, while also trying to find out whether there were other Dragons with unique powers the further they travelled to the East; and if they could take a detour to meet the Kirin on their way back, even if just to speak with them for mere moments, they would greatly appreciate it.

To their relief, the others all firmly nodded in response to their suggestion, including Boom, whom they had expected to be planning half a dozen more additional destinations whither they would head, after they had completed their quest here; and Boom got up with a loud groan, before he whistled to Courage, and told the Pup they were leaving, hopefully to another quiet place like this, but drier.

As soon as the Pink Pup heard Boom's whistle, he leapt out of Light's lap, and ran over to stand by Boom's side, where he quickly shook dry his soaked coat, before the two left, leading the others to the East at a decent pace; but after Light put their sword in its sheath, they took a little longer to start moving again, as they could still not shake the feeling that they were not entirely alone.

Fortunately, Nox realised they were lagging behind again, and she quickly trotted over, not only to make sure they were all right, but to walk next to them, and to keep an eye on them, too, since she worried they might lose track of the others if they slowed down too much; so she sweetly told Light to keep up, promising them that she would let them know if she ever saw something to watch out for.

While Light was uncertain as to just how much more Nox could truly see than they, they trusted her, and they smiled warmly to her as the two trotted after the others, when they realised that the mist surrounding them was steadily becoming more opaque; but after Nox closed her eyes, Light found that she suddenly quickened her pace, and she easily led them through the mist until they found Inferno.

After Nox let Inferno know it was her, and that Light was with her, the Dragoness let out a sigh of relief, and let go of the hilt of her sword, before Nox took her claw, and asked her to walk on her other side, so she knew exactly where she and Light were at all times; and she carefully placed her wings on both Light and Inferno's backs, gently guiding them forward as she looked around for Boom.

Eventually, the mist grew so dense that Light could hardly hear their own hooves on the ground, and could only barely make out the shape of their hoof when they held it a hair's width away from their face; but to their astonishment, Nox managed to steer them and Inferno the right way, even managing to prevent them all from stepping into holes in the ground, or running against rocks in their path.

Then, very faintly, Light heard Nox's voice through the mist, even though it appeared as though she was shouting at the top of her lungs, when they felt her wing sharply steer them to the side; and a few moments later, she moved her wings in front of the two to stop them just before they hit a wall of rugged stone, whereafter they moved sideways along the wall, until they made it to a small cave.

As Nox led Inferno and Light inside, the latter carefully set their tail ablaze, when Inferno said:

"So this is Kirin fire… Incredible..!"

(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)

Send an ask or request! | Start at the beginning! | Next part!

Featuring: Nox Lunarwing from @nox-lunarwing Boomlord from @thedumbguywithaheart43

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waitingforsecretsouls · 1 year ago

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Dance-era Dragons and their Dances

As can perhaps be seen in my previous post about the size of Tessarion, dragon sizes in ASOIAF are something that's very interesting to me, in particular because I feel that for all its many (many) flaws it's the one thing Fire & Blood is very consistent in, and clear about. Yet there seems to be a lot of confusion about particular specimens even though the text itself offers clear explanations.

So consider this my write-up about my understanding of the general (not able to offer up numbers, sorry) size of dragons in 129 AC, for my own referrence (rather than a bludgeon against differing opinions). It will contain an examination of available information about the concerned dragons, including the battles they were involved in from which I will extrapolate to make points (and perhaps slightly judge their and their riders performances).

EDIT: This turned into something far more like my personal commentary on the Dances in the latter (and larger) half, so, uh, yeah, the attempt at making some sort of larger point got lost along the way. The Tl;dr: Stop underestimating Sunfyre's and Tessarion's size, please, the text itself is rather clear that they're big lizards!

Rhaenys is a Biased Party (even if general guideline)

Perhaps the most consistently referred to piece of text concerning Dance-era dragons (understandably so, considering it's the only one to name all dragons at once) is Rhaenys ennumeration of Targaryen dragons at the 'Black Council'. Yet said ennumeration by her is inherently biased as both seen in the surrounding narration as well as Rhaenys' assessments themselves. To quote:

“We have more,” said Princess Rhaenys, the Queen Who Never Was, who had been a dragonrider longer than all of them. “And ours are larger and stronger, but for Vhagar. Dragons thrive best here on Dragonstone.” She enumerated for the council. King Aegon had his Sunfyre. A splendid beast, though young. Aemond One-Eye rode Vhagar, and the peril posed by Queen Visenya’s mount could not be gainsaid. Queen Helaena’s mount was Dreamfyre, the she-dragon who had once borne the Old King’s sister Rhaena through the clouds. Prince Daeron’s dragon was Tessarion, with her wings dark as cobalt and her claws and crest and belly scales as bright as beaten copper. “That makes four dragons of fighting size,” said Rhaenys. Queen Helaena’s twins had their own dragons too, but no more than hatchlings; the usurper’s youngest son, Maelor, was possessed only of an egg. Against that, Prince Daemon had Caraxes and Princess Rhaenyra Syrax, both huge and formidable beasts. Caraxes especially was fearsome, and no stranger to blood and fire after the Stepstones. Rhaenyra’s three sons by Laenor Velaryon were all dragonriders; Vermax, Arrax, and Tyraxes were thriving, and growing larger every year. Aegon the Younger, eldest of Rhaenyra’s two sons by Prince Daemon, commanded the young dragon Stormcloud, though he had yet to mount him; his little brother, Viserys, went everywhere with his egg. Rhaenys’s own she-dragon, Meleys the Red Queen, had grown lazy, but remained fearsome when roused. Prince Daemon’s twins by Laena Velaryon might yet be dragonriders too. Baela’s dragon, the slender pale green Moondancer, would soon be large enough to bear the girl upon her back…and though her sister Rhaena’s egg had hatched a broken thing that died within hours of emerging from the egg, Syrax had recently produced another clutch. One of her eggs had been given to Rhaena, and it was said that the girl slept with it every night, and prayed for a dragon to match her sister’s. Moreover, six other dragons made their lairs in the smoky caverns of the Dragonmont above the castle. There was Silverwing, Good Queen Alysanne’s mount of old; Seasmoke, the pale grey beast that had been the pride and passion of Ser Laenor Velaryon; hoary old Vermithor, unridden since the death of King Jaehaerys. And behind the mountain dwelled three wild dragons, never claimed nor ridden by any man, living or dead. The smallfolk had named them Sheepstealer, Grey Ghost, and the Cannibal. “Find riders to master Silverwing, Vermithor, and Seasmoke, and we will have nine dragons against Aegon’s four. Mount and fly their wild kin, and we will number twelve, even without Stormcloud,” Princess Rhaenys pointed out. “That is how we shall win this war.”

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Blacks and the Greens

As see in her first and last lines (bolded), Rhaenys is trying to make the argument that their acess to larger number of dragons is Rhaenyra's factions largest advantage against the Greens in the as of yet potential conflict ahead. Fair enough. But as seen in her very first line, her following assessments are all built on the foundation of also explicitly trying to prove the superiority of said dragons, which is where we run into some snaggs and a deliberate down-playing of the Greens dragons. About the one thing I'm ready to agree on is the general order of size, but not the presumed gaps between them so often incorporated into fanon (other reasons for which will be examined later).

Looking at her descriptions of the Greens dragons we notice the concession that Sunfyre is "splendid", "though young", which can be read as either an attempt to downplay said splendor (something many seem to see as a reference to his appearance, to which I respectfully disagree, the following "though young" makes clear that it's a broader categorization with youth standing in contrast to said "splendor", since youth would make a nonsensical contrast to beauty, due to not being mutually exclusive, plus nonsensical to bring up in Rhaenys battle-focused assessment) by bringing up his youth, or a concession about Sunfyre's potential risk-factor despite his youth. All in all, even if it may be my particular reading of it, one of the more fair and reasonable evaluations.

But Dreamfyre, Vhagar and Tessarion? Dreamfyre is one of the oldest and largest dragons alive, yet all Rhaenys has to say about her is who her previous rider was? Whereas Syrax, who has no battle experience and is never noted for a ferocious temperament or other notable characteristic the way eg. even pre-first-bloodletting Meleys and Caraxes are (fast and fierce), gets mentioned as "huge and formidable"? If size is what prompts this praise, I hope we can all agree how nonsensical it is to mention a ~50 years younger Syrax as "huge" but not Dreamfyre, whose roused ferocity we see at the Storming of the Dragonpit. She literally brings down the building that was errected to house the Black Dread. But okay, the most noteworthy thing is that Rhaena once flew her, whatever you say Rhaenys. Tessarion gets no description at all outside of her coloration, when later events see her exhibit swiftness, ferocity and endurance more than most other dragons on the list. Vhagar only gets the praise that it's impossible to downplay the danger posed by her, as attempted with the others, imo another confirmation of Rhaenys goal with said speech.

Not taking Shrykos and Morghul into wider consideration intially seems fair enough, given the youth of them and their riders, however when you compare them to the treatment of dragons of similar age and size on Rhaenyra's side it starts to look unfair. Whereas Shrykos and Morghul get dismissed as "no more than hatchlings", the category that's consistently applied to any dragons too small to be mounted, Stormcloud suddenly gets bumped up to a "young dragon" that's "commanded" by the NINE-YEAR-OLD Aegon (to Jaehaerys' and Jaehaeras six years), and the also as-of-yet too young to be mounted Moondancer gets spun into nearly battle-ready (even though being large enough to be mounted and being large enough for (dragon-on-dragon) combat are NOT the same mile-stone, see eg. Stormcloud's later death to arrows and one scorpion bolt). In a similar vein, the comparative youth and thereby lack of size of the Strong Boys dragons (sorry TB shooters, it's just too convenient a term to refer to them as a collective), as the only cradle-hatchlings involved in the conflict proper ("Superior fire-power will solve all our problems, so let's take barely ridable dragons and barely-teens into combat". How does Rhaenys get cast as this wise "what could have been" Queen in the mold of Alysanne? Rhaegar-syndrome of never actually being fully in charge, I imagine) gets overpainted with the basic facts that their dragons are healthy and growing, as is true for literally every other currently living dragon.

I have no overall issue with her descriptions of Caraxes and Meleys, (though Meleys was never actually involved in any kind of battle prior to the Dance. I like to hc that she grew up on Dragonstone similarly to Sunfyre (canon) and Tessarion (hc) with the dangerous-for-hatchlings Cannibal around to potentially fend off), they have either enough history or age to at least somehwat back up their praise. However, I hope this made clear why I do not consider Rhaenys opinion the be-all-end-all of estimating dragons size and danger posited by them.

Can't make a Dragon without breaking some Eggs

While I already mentioned it a few times in the previous section I'm gonna quickly elaborate on it here: Despite common belief, neither Sunfyre nor Tessarion are likely to be cradle-hatchlings or even just "regular" hatchlings hatching from an egg given to a Targaryen child. Fire & Blood always makes sure to mention when such eggs are presented, whether it's the cradle-egg or childhood-egg variant, the result from said egg (hatching, hatching misformed and/or sickly, not hatching at all). An occurence that's rather rare in the Targaryen history pre-Dance: Aenys bonded with an already hatched hatchling from Dragonstone, Maegor refused such young dragons offered to him, Rhaena bonded with the young dragon Dreamfyre. Jaehaerys and Alysanne are the first Targaryens mentioned to receive cradle-eggs, with Vermithor and Silverwing as their hatchlings, even though compared to later such occurences theirs is a heavily mythologized account and may potentially be open to interpretation. Alone of all their children, an egg was placed in Prince Aemon's cradle, though we never hear anything about it again, seeming to indicate it never hatched (since Aemon goes on to claim the young dragon Caraxes). Meleys as well is already a young dragon by the time Alyssa claims her. In fact, it's only with Rhaenyra's sons questionable paternity that the "tradition" of cradle-eggs is "revived" (imo it never was a consistent enough custom to be considered a tradition pre-Dance, but them's them fandom terms).

Whatever the truth of these allegations, there was never any doubt that King Viserys still meant for his daughter to follow him upon the Iron Throne, and her sons to follow her in turn. By royal decree, each of the Velaryon boys was presented with a dragon’s egg whilst in the cradle. Those who doubted the paternity of Rhaenyra’s sons whispered that the eggs would never hatch, but the birth in turn of three young dragons gave the lie to their words. The hatchlings were named Vermax, Arrax, and Tyraxes. And Septon Eustace tells us that His Grace sat Jace upon his knee atop the Iron Throne as he was holding court, and was heard to say, “One day this will be your seat, lad.”

Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon—A Question of Succession

The whole reason the Strong Boys are presented with dragons eggs in the cradle is in an attempt to dispell the rumours of their questionable paternity, "by royal decree" making it clear it's not standard custom, and given how Aegon II, Helaena and Aemond are all older than even Jacaerys and there is never any question about the legitimacy of Alicent's children, combined with Fire & Blood's consistency in mentioning egg dispensations, makes clear none of them ever received a cradle-egg or regular eggs. Same goes for Daeron, who in particular is mentioned in contrast to Jacaerys as showing his Targaryen blood:

The court was still rejoicing over the birth of the princess’s child when her stepmother, Queen Alicent, also went into labor, delivering Viserys his third son, Daeron…whose coloring, unlike that of Jace, testified to his dragon blood. By royal command, the infants Jacaerys Velaryon and Daeron Targaryen shared a wet nurse until weaned. It was said that the king hoped to prevent any enmity between the two boys by raising them as milk brothers. If so, his hopes proved to be sadly forlorn.

Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon—A Question of Succession

The reasons Jaehaerys, Jaehaera and Maelor receive cradle-eggs are most logically a quiet "arms-race" between both factions, an attempt to show they are equally (and implied superior due to lacking the "taint" of illegitimacy) as legitimate Targaryens and potential heirs as Rhaenyra's children, who all are presented with cradle-eggs that hatch (see also the Greens attempt to PR-slander Viserys for his egg not hatching, which would be a self-own if it had happened to all of them), made possible by not being reliant on Royal Decree since Helaena, their mother, claimed Dreamfyre, the most prolific egg-layer among the Targaryen dragons (not that Viserys would have had a good reason to deny the other set of his grandchildren eggs upon explicit request, but I honestly don't think the Greens bothered (not that they were required to) with consulting him).

Tl;dr: Neither Sunfyre nor Tessarion can logicstically be cradle-hatchling.

The Dragons Dance

This is the section in which I will examine the battles of the Dance of Dragons that involved dragons and said dragons performance in them, to extrapolate about their likely sizes, maybe correct some misconceptions about the battles themselves, and perhaps other characteristics that jump out.

Oh Honey, You've got a Big Storm coming....

Let's do this chronologically and start with the "battle" above Shipbreaker Bay, though there's not that much to say, roll quote:

Outside the storm was raging. Thunder rolled across the castle, the rain fell in blinding sheets, and from time to time great bolts of blue-white lightning lit the world as bright as day. It was bad weather for flying, even for a dragon, and Arrax was struggling to stay aloft when Prince Aemond mounted Vhagar and went after him. Had the sky been calm, Prince Lucerys might have been able to outfly his pursuer, for Arrax was younger and swifter…but the day was “as black as Prince Aemond’s heart,” says Mushroom, and so it came to pass that the dragons met above Shipbreaker Bay. Watchers on the castle walls saw distant blasts of flame, and heard a shriek cut the thunder. Then the two beasts were locked together, lightning crackling around them. Vhagar was five times the size of her foe, the hardened survivor of a hundred battles. If there was a fight, it could not have lasted long. Arrax fell, broken, to be swallowed by the storm-lashed waters of the bay. His head and neck washed up beneath the cliffs below Storm’s End three days later, to make a feast for crabs and seagulls. Mushroom claims that Prince Lucerys’s corpse washed up as well, and tells us that Prince Aemond cut out his eyes and presented them to Lady Maris on a bed of seaweed, but this seems excessive. Some say Vhagar snatched Lucerys off his dragon’s back and swallowed him whole.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—A Son for a Son

The general rule of thumb seems to be that younger dragons are swifter than older and larger ones (see: Young Meleys vs Vhagar or even Older Meleys, the proposed "match-up" of Moondancer vs the Cannibal), but because the weather-conditions were suboptimal to say the least Vhagar managed to catch up to Arrax since the storm likely would have bothered her (read: knocked around) far less than the smaller Arrax. We don't get much about the fight itself except that it must have been a pretty one-sided affair and that Vhagar was five-times the size of Arrax (other comparisons of such kind we get are Quicksilver being a quarter the size of Balerion, Tessarion being one-third the size of Vermithor (the canonically special dragon, second only to Vhagar in size at 14-years old). Yet no-one is saying Quicksilver was tiny just bc Balerion was fuck-off huge, and Tessarion gets reduced to the same size as Arrax, smh...). I do find it interesting that the dragons were "locked together", indicating Arrax at least tried to fight back by biting into Vhagar as well...But otherwise, as mentioned, not much to comment on, everyone knows and acknowledges Vhagar is huge and that Arrax is one of the youngest dragons involved. Next!

Time-out corner for Sunfyre and Meleys (Vhagar's also here, I guess)

Next we have the Battle of Rooks Rest, one of the more impressive ones, considering the dragons involved. Much discourse has been had about who makes a more cutting or incompetent figure: Much smack has been talked about Aegon and Sunfyre in particular, given the result of the battle. But looking at the actual course of events it's pretty clear (even stated by the text itself) that the duo were the clincher in this battle:

Then came an answering roar. Two more winged shapes appeared: the king astride Sunfyre the Golden, and his brother Aemond upon Vhagar. Criston Cole had sprung his trap, and Rhaenys had come snatching at the bait. Now the teeth closed round her. Princess Rhaenys made no attempt to flee. With a glad cry and a crack of her whip, she turned Meleys toward the foe. Against Vhagar alone she might have had some chance, but against Vhagar and Sunfyre together, doom was certain. The dragons met violently a thousand feet above the field of battle, as balls of fire burst and blossomed, so bright that men swore later that the sky was full of suns. The crimson jaws of Meleys closed round Sunfyre’s golden neck for a moment, till Vhagar fell upon them from above. All three beasts went spinning toward the ground. They struck the ground so hard that stones fell from the battlements of Rook’s Rest half a league away. Those closest to the dragons did not live to tell the tale. Those farther off could not see for the flame and smoke. It was hours before the fires guttered out. But from those ashes, only Vhagar rose unharmed. Meleys was dead, broken by the fall and ripped to pieces upon the ground. And Sunfyre, that splendid golden beast, had one wing half torn from his body, whilst his royal rider had suffered broken ribs, a broken hip, and burns that covered half his body. His left arm was the worst. The dragonflame had burned so hot that the king’s armor had melted into his flesh.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold

The common view of this clash seems to be that the three dragons clashed mid-air, maybe did some fancy maneuvering, Vhagar saved Sunfyre's hide, Meleys ripped Sunfyre's wing, they crash, Meleys gets killed (sometimes with a switch of the third-to-last and second-to last, but with the constant of Meleys injuring Sunfyre's wing). What the text itself actually describes is rather different however.

First of all, Kudos to Rhaenys for facing her certain doom bravely. Next, let's note the huge credit to the danger posed by Meleys that she is considered not only a potential risk but even potential victor against Vhagar. That's not something even Caraxes gets, who's half of Vhagar's size but consistently mentioned as dangerous and vicious. Meaning Meleys is likely a good deal older than Caraxes, rather than just a decade or two. Pre-Dragonseeds it's safe to say that Meleys was the largest dragon of Rhaenyra's faction by a good deal.

Next, let's have a look at the actual sequence of events, as depicted and via logical inference: While we are not told of details, the three do exchange fireballs aimed more likely at the enemy rider(s) rather than their dragons, given the respectable age of all dragons involved and increased resistance to flame that comes with this, and likely try to maneuvre in a favourable position for attack from up close. Whether by deliberate targeting (which would make sense, given that Sunfyre IS the smaller target compared to Vhagar, and Aegon is the crowned and anointed rival claimant to Rhaenyra) or circumstances, it's Sunfyre Meleys ends up getting close and personal to, threatening to bite into his neck until Vhagar drops on BOTH OF THEM from above, initiating a crash. For me it makes more sense for Meleys to not have fully bitten into Sunfyre's neck and get disloged by Vhagar likely crashing into her rather than having the bite but somehow getting disloged AFTERWARDS. Opinions may of course vary, but either Sunfyre has a neck of steel for not getting a noteworthy injury from a full-force bite, or said bite never occured. I also find it unlikely that Meleys would have half-ripped off Sunfyre's wing while in a freefall with Vhagar likely on top of both her and Sunfyre, I just don't see the opportunity for that sort of maneuvering and leverage in this situation. If she is the one who caused that injury (which I'm not so sure about), it makes more sense to me to have occured during a short ground-battle folllowing the fall. Largely also because I see no reason the observers wouldn't have noticed Meleys biting into Sunfyre in such a vital area, to such a degree, when we get a ludicrous amount of details of Vhagars and Caraxes bites and clawing during their fall.

Either way, the flames and smoke prevent anyone from seeing what happens after the crash, but we do get the note that Meleys was "broken by the fall and ripped to pieces upon the ground", meaning she sustained notable injuries through the fall, but was ultimately killed following it upon the ground (as it seems unlikely a dead Meleys not offering resistance or displaying signs of life would have had to get ripped apart any further). If you're a proponent of Meleys as injuring Sunfyre's wing, then this likely short (given that she was seemingly majorly injured by the crash whereas Vhagar was unharmed, as the one doing the pile-driving, and Sunfyre seems well-enough, apart from the torn wing) ground-battle seems the likeliest opportunity for the injury to have occured. I lean more towards the pile-driver maneuver by Aemond and Vhagar that canonically fell on both Meleys and Sunfyre to have done the deed, because it seems logistically sounder to me (if Meleys already was "broken" by the fall it seems doubtful she would still score such a major injury) and for the irony it adds to Aemond as rider of the largest dragon around and built up as this terryfying and bloodthirsty figure, only to turn out a pretty incompetent dragonrider, getting his brother and kings dragon caught in the crossfire. Given how the only injury mentioned for Sunfyre is his torn wing I also find it likely he participated in the whole "ripped to pieces upon the ground", as he seems to do very well in ground-battles for a dragon, see also his later battle against Wallys Motoon and his men and the off-screen battle against Grey Ghost, unlikely to have involved aerial combat due to his awkwardly healed wing (that's one of the few things not re-injured by said fight).

All in all, Aemond is the one who gives a poor showing in the battle, with the main clash described occuring between Meleys and Sunfyre (yes, he does save Sunfyre's neck, but said maneuver also seems like the main cause for Sunfyre's major injury! Given that he rides the largest dragon around I don't think it's too critical to ask if he couldn't have found a way to eg, place himself between Meleys and Sunfyre or smg).

This is not related to the dragons, so not a main point, but aside from the broken bones which clearly ARE from the fall I find it interesting to contemplate if Aegon's burns may have partly occured mid-air, in the whole "[...]balls of fire burst and blossomed, so bright that men swore later that the sky was full of suns."

Sunfyre's size is once again emphasized in the aftermath:

The king’s dragon, Sunfyre, too huge and heavy to be moved, and unable to fly with his injured wing, remained in the fields beyond Rook’s Rest, crawling through the ashes like some great golden wyrm. In the early days he fed himself upon the burned carcasses of the slain. When those were gone, the men Ser Criston had left behind to guard him brought him calves and sheep.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold

If Sunfyre was only the size of around two or three war-horses or something I feel like there could have been something figured out, but alas. Also, the fact that he surived the fall that "broke" Meleys is very impressive and another testament to his size, even if you argue that he probably wasn't at the bottom of the pile upon impact.

All in all, I see the battle as a bit more active, particularly involving Sunfyre, than commonly depicted, especially given that he is presented as the main target of Meleys, who is said to potentially threaten even Vhagar, had Aegon and Aemond not shown up together. Rhaenys and Meleys did their best against impossible odd and likely were the ones so severly burning Aegon but I find it increasingly unlikely that they're the main instigators of Sunfyre's injury. If someone goofed up it was Aemond.

Rooks Rest 2.0 Sunfyre

No reason to delay, let's immediately tackle another one of the big Sunfyre fights, the attempt by Wallys Motoon to slay him while he's earthbound.

Elsewhere in the realm, Lord Walys Mooton led a hundred knights out of Maidenpool to join with the half-wild Crabbs and Brunes of Crackclaw Point and the Celtigars of Claw Isle. Through piney woods and mist-shrouded hills they hastened, to Rook’s Rest, where their sudden appearance took the garrison by surprise. After retaking the castle, Lord Mooton led his bravest men to the field of ashes west of the castle, to put an end to the dragon Sunfyre. The would-be dragonslayers easily drove off the cordon of guards who had been left to feed, serve, and protect the dragon, but Sunfyre himself proved more formidable than expected. Dragons are awkward creatures on the ground, and his torn wing left the great golden wyrm unable to take to the air. The attackers expected to find the beast near death. Instead they found him sleeping, but the clash of swords and thunder of horses soon roused him, and the first spear to strike him provoked him to fury. Slimy with mud, twisting amongst the bones of countless sheep, Sunfyre writhed and coiled like a serpent, his tail lashing, sending blasts of golden flame at his attackers as he struggled to fly. Thrice he rose, and thrice fell back to earth. Mooton’s men swarmed him with swords and spears and axes, dealing him many grievous wounds…yet each blow only seemed to enrage him further. The number of the dead reached threescore before the survivors fled. Amongst the slain was Walys Mooton, Lord of Maidenpool. When his body was found a fortnight later by his brother Manfryd, naught remained but charred flesh in melted armor, crawling with maggots. Yet nowhere on that field of ashes, littered with the bodies of brave men and the burned and bloated carcasses of a hundred horses, did Lord Manfryd find King Aegon’s dragon. Sunfyre was gone. Nor were there tracks, as surely there would have been had the dragon dragged himself away. Sunfyre the Golden had taken wing again, it seemed…but to where, no living man could say.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold

A very impressive resistance offered by Sunfyre, who's explicitly elevated above the commonly expected performance of an earth-bound dragon, succesfully adapting his fighting style to the circumstances and driving his attackers off despite getting dealt "many grievous wounds", and ultimately reclaiming the air in the aftermath of these fresh injuries (his attempts to take flight thrice are bolded for the later comparison to Tessarion and a slightly tinfoil-y theory). Also another mention of the "great golden wyrm" descriptor, as a reminder of his size.

Hook, Line and Sinker

Oh, Battle of the Gullet...Battle of the Gullet...For all the plot-holes and blatant 'it needs to result in this, no matter the set-up' of the conflict, the Battle of the Gullet is one of my favourite flops of the Dance. I'm not gonna note all the inconsistencies-duxbelisarius made an excellent series on the logical inconsistencies of the Dance-but look purely at the dragonbattle aspect of it.

When Prince Jacaerys swept down upon a line of Lysene galleys on Vermax, a rain of spears and arrows rose up to meet him. The sailors of the Triarchy had faced dragons before whilst warring against Prince Daemon in the Stepstones. No man could fault their courage; they were prepared to meet dragonflame with such weapons as they had. “Kill the rider and the dragon will depart,” their captains and commanders had told them. One ship took fire, and then another. Still the men of the Free Cities fought on…until a shout rang out, and they looked up to see more winged shapes coming around the Dragonmont and turning toward them. It is one thing to face a dragon, another to face five. As Silverwing, Sheepstealer, Seasmoke, and Vermithor descended upon them, the men of the Triarchy felt their courage desert them. The line of warships shattered, as one galley after another turned away. The dragons fell like thunderbolts, spitting balls of fire, blue and orange, red and gold, each brighter than the next. Ship after ship burst asunder or was consumed by flames. Screaming men leapt into the sea, shrouded in fire. Tall columns of black smoke rose up from the water. All seemed lost…all was lost… Several differing tales were told afterward of how and why the dragon fell. Some claimed a crossbowman put an iron bolt through his eye, but this version seems suspiciously similar to the way Meraxes met her end, long ago in Dorne. Another account tells us that a sailor in the crow’s nest of a Myrish galley cast a grapnel as Vermax was swooping through the fleet. One of its prongs found purchase between two scales, and was driven deep by the dragon’s own considerable speed. The sailor had coiled his end of the chain about the mast, and the weight of the ship and the power of Vermax’s wings tore a long jagged gash in the dragon’s belly. The dragon’s shriek of rage was heard as far off as Spicetown, even through the clangor of battle. His flight jerked to a violent end, Vermax went down smoking and screaming, clawing at the water. Survivors said he struggled to rise, only to crash headlong into a burning galley. Wood splintered, the mast came tumbling down, and the dragon, thrashing, became entangled in the rigging. When the ship heeled over and sank, Vermax sank with her. It is said that Jacaerys Velaryon leapt free and clung to a piece of smoking wreckage for a few heartbeats, until some crossbowmen on the nearest Myrish ship began loosing quarrels at him. The prince was struck once, and then again. More and more Myrmen brought crossbows to bear. Finally one quarrel took him through the neck, and Jace was swallowed by the sea.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold

Going purely by what canon shows us, then Jacaerys Velaryon most certainly comes across as one of the most incompetent dragonriders of the Dance. Involved in all of one battle, a certain and brutally one-sided affair of a victory, involving five dragons against a dragon-less fleet, including two of the largest dragon alive, gets defeated by a grapnel-hook and ship (am I saying this bc I'm salty how people tend to hype Jace to the high heavens while dismissing Aegon II's and Daerons canonically demonstrated greater proficiency? Mayhaps). But potential ragging on Jace's "skillZ" as a dragonrider aside, it most certainly shows Vermax' comparative youth as a dragon, which includes softer scales than among older dragons, giving a reasonable explanation for the amount of damage done, and how a mere grapnel hook could have penetrated deep enough to cause it. At MOST, and given the examples of other cradle-hatchlings we see highly unlikely, Vermax would have been 15 years old. Compared to the other dragons involved in the Dance, that's YOUNG. Also Kudos to Jace's bravery for leading his men into battle, so to speak, even if his assistance was kind of unecessary (especially considering Vermax' comparative youth), but I can certainly see the morale aspect of it (JUST sending out the Dragonseeds by themselves for the dity work wouldn't exactly inspire loyalty in them).

Not much to say on the Dragonseeds at this point, similar to Aemond, the sheer size of their dragons alone would be enough to comfortably carry them through most battles. Not saying they couldn't possibly have any talent, but their amount of experience is dwindlingly small compared to most other dragonriders involved, and none of them save Addam ever end up in another dragon-on-dragon battle, so not much to comment on them as dragonriders.

Honey, Honey

Time to introduce Daeron and Tessarion, who make their debut at the Battle of the Honeywine. I already made an entire post about Tessarion's size, so maybe some parts of that are gonna be re-stated in the segments of this post concerning her.

A fortnight later, in the Reach, Ormund Hightower found himself caught between two armies. Thaddeus Rowan, Lord of Goldengrove, and Tom Flowers, Bastard of Bitterbridge, were bearing down on him from the northeast with a great host of mounted knights, whilst Ser Alan Beesbury, Lord Alan Tarly, and Lord Owen Costayne had joined their power to cut off his retreat to Oldtown. When their hosts closed around him on the banks of the river Honeywine, attacking front and rear at once, Lord Hightower saw his lines crumble. Defeat seemed imminent…until a shadow swept across the battlefield, and a terrible roar resounded overhead, slicing through the sound of steel on steel. A dragon had come. The dragon was Tessarion, the Blue Queen, cobalt and copper. On her back rode the youngest of Queen Alicent’s three sons, Daeron Targaryen, fifteen, Lord Ormund’s squire, that same gentle and soft-spoken lad who had once been milk brother to Prince Jacaerys. The arrival of Prince Daeron and his dragon reversed the tide of battle. Now it was Lord Ormund’s men attacking, screaming curses at their foes, whilst the queen’s men fled. By day’s end, Lord Rowan was retreating north with the remnants of his host, Tom Flowers lay dead and burned amongst the reeds, the two Alans had been taken captive, and Lord Costayne was dying from a wound given him by Bold Jon Roxton’s black blade, the Orphan-Maker. As wolves and ravens fed upon the bodies of the slain, Ormund Hightower feasted Prince Daeron on aurochs and strongwine, and dubbed him a knight with the storied Valyrian longsword Vigilance, naming him “Ser Daeron the Daring.” The prince modestly replied, “My lord is kind to say so, but the victory belongs to Tessarion.”

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold.

I already made my case on how I find it logistically impossible for Tessarion to be a cradle-hatchling, and find that the immediate reversal Tessarion's arrival has on the battel another indicator that she was likely decently sized- her roar is described as "terrible", afterall, and there doesn't seem to have been any worry about arrows being used as a deterrent against her. In a previous section concerning the defense of King's Landing, she is indirectly called a "mature dragon":

With Sunfyre wounded near Rook’s Rest and unable to fly, and Tessarion with Prince Daeron in Oldtown, only two mature dragons remained to defend King’s Landing. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The Red Dragon and the Gold

and Aemond's objection against involving her in the hunt for Daemon is not any sort of consideration that Tessarion herself might be too small to bring to battle against Caraxes (nor Sunfyre...Here as well it's Aegon's injuries that are the concern), but that Daeron is too young:

Prince Aemond had no taste for such delays, however. He had no need of his brothers or their dragons, he declared; Aegon was too badly hurt, Daeron too young.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—The RedDragon and the Gold

Something I also see as the reason that six-year-old Daeron had not yet ridden Tessarion despite claiming her, his own youth, given that the youngest age we have of a Targaryen flying a dragon is Rhaenyra at seven years old.

The cruelty of children is known to all. Prince Aegon Targaryen was thirteen, Princess Helaena eleven, Prince Aemond ten, and Prince Daeron six. Both Aegon and Helaena were dragonriders. Helaena now flew Dreamfyre, the she-dragon who had once carried Rhaena, Maegor the Cruel’s “Black Bride,” whilst her brother Aegon’s young Sunfyre was said to be the most beautiful dragon ever seen upon the earth. Even Prince Daeron had a dragon, a lovely blue she-dragon named Tessarion, though he had yet to ride.

Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon—A Question of Succession. VS.

At the center of the merriment, cherished and adored by all, was their only surviving child, Princess Rhaenyra, the little girl the court singers dubbed “the Realm’s Delight.” Though only six when her father came to the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra Targaryen was a precocious child, bright and bold and beautiful as only one of dragon’s blood can be beautiful. At seven, she became a dragonrider, taking to the sky on the young dragon she named Syrax, after a goddess of old Valyria. Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon—A Question of Succession.

Daeron then goes on to use Tessarion similarly how Queen Rhaenys once employed Meraxes-as a scout about enemy movements above all else.

Yet the greatest threat to Rhaenyra’s reign was not Aemond One-Eye, but his younger brother, Prince Daeron the Daring, and the great southron army led by Lord Ormund Hightower. Hightower’s host had crossed the Mander and was advancing slowly on King’s Landing, smashing the queen’s loyalists wherever and whenever they encountered them, and forcing every lord who bent the knee to add their strength to his own. Flying Tessarion ahead of the main column, Prince Daeron had proved invaluable as a scout, warning Lord Ormund of enemy movements. Oft as not, the queen’s men would melt away at the first glimpse of the Blue Queen’s wings. Grand Maester Munkun tells us that the southron host numbered more than twenty thousand as it crept upriver, almost a tenth of them mounted knights. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant

In the previously published extended version of the Dance, The Princess & The Queen, it is specifically mentioned to be the threat of meeting Tessarions dragonflame in battle that makes many of the Reachs Rhaenyra advocates surrender or flee rather than face the Hightower host:

Flying Tessarion ahead of the main column, Prince Daeron had proved invaluable as a scout, warning Lord Ormund of enemy movements and entrenchments. Oft as not, the queen’s men would melt away at the first glimpse of the Blue Queen’s wings rather than face dragonflame in battle. The Princess and The Queen

Not gonna make a headline for Bitterbridge, given how it's one of the more ignominious chapters of the Greens Reach-campaign, certainly, without the "excuse" of a breakdown of the chain of command and inability to control the Two Betrayers even if so desired as First Tumbleton.

In the Reach, Lady Merryweather yielded Longtable to Lord Ormund Hightower; true to his word, his lordship did no harm to her or hers, though he did strip her castle of its wealth and every scrap of food, feeding his thousands with her grain as he broke his camp and marched on to Bitterbridge. When Lady Caswell appeared on the ramparts of her castle to ask for the same terms Lady Merryweather had received, Hightower let Prince Daeron give the answer: “You shall receive the same terms you gave my nephew Maelor.” Her ladyship could only watch as Bitterbridge was sacked. The Hogs Head was the first building put to the torch. Inns, guild halls, storehouses, the homes of the mean and the mighty, dragonflame consumed them all. Even the sept was burned, with hundreds of wounded still within. Only the bridge remained untouched, as it was required to cross the Mander. The people of the town were put to the sword if they tried to fight or flee, or were driven into the river to drown. Lady Caswell watched from her walls, then commanded that her gates be thrown open. “No castle can be held against a dragon,” she told her garrison. When Lord Hightower rode up, he found her standing atop the gatehouse with a noose about her neck. “Have mercy on my children, lord,” she begged, before throwing herself down to hang. Mayhaps that moved Lord Ormund, for her ladyship’s young sons and daughter were spared and sent in chains to Oldtown. The men of the castle garrison received no mercy but the sword. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant

While more generous interpretations might see the spread of fire as an accident, Daeron's words make very clear that the destruction of Bitterbridge at the hands of Tessarions flames is very much deliberate retribution. And it IS Tessarions flames- "dragonflame" that "consumes" the town and promts Lady Caswell to surrender even her castle, stating resistance against Tessarion as futile. These combined tibits make it once again very clear that Tessarion cannot be of similar size as the Strong Boys cradle-hatchlings. Offering up her castle after seeing the methodcal and merciless destruction of her town, if she was up against a dragon not much larger than a horse? Not likely. Heck, even Vhagar-Vhagar!!!-is inable to utterly destroy the Riverland castles and keeps Aemond directs her to burn. Dragonflame grows in intensity as a dragon ages, and Tessarions flame has now been menioned both as a deterrent and shown as destructor of an entire town and she herself enough to threaten a castle into surrender.

But lets get to First Tumbleton so we can get a small change of scenery afterwards...

Girl, You're such a Backstabber (Stabber)

It may be that it was the thought of attacking Tessarion that gave them pause. In the Gullet, all the dragons had been on their own side. This too may be possible…though both Vermithor and Silverwing were older and larger than Prince Daeron’s dragon, and would therefore have been more likely to prevail in any battle.

Not going to comment about the motives about Hugh and Ulf, but once again, I find it telling that the prospect of attacking Tessarion is brought up as a potential deterrent in the first place, even as the higher likeliehodd of a Vermithor & Silverwing victory is established. It shows that Tessarion is able to get credited as a serious opponent at least, rather than disregarded altogether. But on to the battle itself.

As the singers tell it, Lord Roderick was bloody from head to heel as he came on, with splintered shield and cracked helm, yet so drunk with battle that he did not even seem to feel his wounds. Ser Bryndon Hightower, Lord Ormund’s cousin, put himself between the northman and his liege, taking off the Ruin’s shield arm at the shoulder with one terrible blow of his longaxe…yet the savage Lord of Barrowton fought on, slaying both Ser Bryndon and Lord Ormund before he died. Lord Hightower’s banners toppled, and the townsfolk gave a great cheer, thinking the tide of battle turned. Even the appearance of Tessarion across the field did not dismay them, for they knew they had two dragons of their own…but when Vermithor and Silverwing climbed into the sky and loosed their fires upon Tumbleton, those cheers changed to screams. It was the Field of Fire writ small, Grand Maester Munkun wrote. Tumbleton went up in flame: shops, homes, septs, people, all. Men fell burning from gatehouse and battlements, or stumbled shrieking through the streets like so many living torches. Outside the walls, Prince Daeron swooped down upon Tessarion. Pate of Longleaf was unhorsed and trampled, Ser Garibald Grey pierced by a crossbow bolt, then engulfed by dragonflame. The Two Betrayers scourged the town with whips of flame from one end to the other.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant

A magnified version of Bitterbridge and not much to be said on the dragons and dragonriding involved, save that Daeron and Tessarion seem to have cleaned up with the fighters outside of the city while Vermithor and Silverwing burned the city itself and didn't take part in the battle "proper". It is in the (nonsensical...) power-vacuum and struggle in the aftermath that we get a tibit about more closely determining Tessarions relative size:

When Bold Jon Roxton demanded to know by what right he presumed to name himself a king, Lord Hammer answered, “The same right as the Conqueror. A dragon.” And truly, with Vhagar dead at last, the oldest and largest living dragon in all Westeros was Vermithor, once the mount of the Old King, now that of Hard Hugh the bastard. Vermithor was thrice the size of Prince Daeron’s she-dragon Tessarion. No man who glimpsed them together could fail to see that Vermithor was a far more fearsome beast.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Vermithor, for reference...

And truly, with Vhagar dead at last, the oldest and largest living dragon in all Westeros was Vermithor[...]. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown In battle he rode Vermithor, once the mount of the Old King himself; of all the dragons in Westeros, only Vhagar was older or larger. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant He was a dragonrider as well, riding upon Vermithor—a great beast of bronze and tan who was the largest of the living dragons after Balerion and Vhagar. The World of Ice and Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys I

1/3 of that doesn't sound too bad!

Sunfyre Solo-Run

Going back to our favourite golden terminator. Aside from the fact that crossing over to Dragonstone with his awkwardly-healed wing is pretty impressive in its own right, given that he couldn't sustain flight for long:

Though his torn wing had mended enough for him to fly, it had healed at an ugly angle, and it remained weak. Sunfyre could no longer soar, nor remain in the air for long, but must needs struggle to fly even short distances. The fool Mushroom, cruelly, says that whereas most dragons moved through the sky like eagles, Sunfyre had become no more than “a great golden fire-breathing chicken, hopping and fluttering from hill to hill.” Yet this “fire-breathing chicken” crossed the waters of Blackwater Bay…

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

out main objects of attention in this section are obviously going to be his off-page battle with Grey Ghost and the battle with Moondancer, reunited with Aegon II.

So first of all I'm gonna get out of the way that no, I'm not just trying to hype up Sunfyre, all signs do point to Grey Ghost likely being an older and larger dragon. Why do I think so? Because of what is required to get categorized as a "Wild Dragon". Wild dragons are not just any and all young dragons that happen to live unclaimed on Dragonstone, no such dragon ever gets classified as such (Seasmoke, Syrax, Sunfyre...).

A wild dragon is a dragon that aged out of the classification of "Young Dragon" without ever being claimed, hence growing feral. "Young Dragon" in itself encompasses a large range of ages-Seasmoke, who counts three decades at least, is still classified as one such, for example. The approximate ages we can reconstruct for the wild dragons bear this perspective out, with both the Cannibal and Sheepsteller being at least ~70 years old, and no reason to suspect Grey Ghost to be that far behind (another small sign of this being that he already earned himself his nickname from the people of the island, as well as knowledge of his preferred hunting habitat and personality). Therefore I find it likely that he would be both older and consequently larger than Sunfyre, even if with a less aggressive disposition than most dragons. It's this oberved "shyness" that makes it seem unlikely he'd have been the one to initiate conflict with Sunfyre.

But to this common song of peril at sea, the Volantenes added a queer note. As Nessaria beat westward, the Dragonmont loomed up before them, huge against the setting sun…and the sailors spied two dragons fighting, their roars echoing off the sheer black cliffs of the smoking mountain’s eastern flanks. In every tavern, inn, and whorehouse along the waterfront the tale was told, retold, and embroidered, till every man on Dragonstone had heard it. Dragons were a wonder to the men of Old Volantis; the sight of two in battle was one the men of Nessaria would never forget. Those born and bred on Dragonstone had grown up with such beasts…yet even so, the sailors’ story excited interest. The next morning some local fisherfolk took their boats around the Dragonmont and returned to report seeing the burned and broken remains of a dead dragon at the mountain’s base. From the color of its wings and scales, the carcass was that of Grey Ghost. The dragon lay in two pieces, and had been torn apart and partially devoured. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant Yet this “fire-breathing chicken” crossed the waters of Blackwater Bay…for it was Sunfyre that the sailors on the Nessaria had seen attacking Grey Ghost. Ser Robert Quince had blamed the Cannibal…but Tom Tangletongue, a stammerer who heard more than he said, had plied the Volantenes with ale, making note of all the times they mentioned the attacker’s golden scales. The Cannibal, as he knew well, was black as coal Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown For half a year he recovered from his wounds in a remote fishing village whilst Rhaenyra and much of her court were in King’s Landing, and during that time Sunfyre arrived from Crackclaw Point, despite the dragon’s crippled wing, which made it ungainly in the air. Thus hidden, they were able to recover their strength. (Sunfyre went on to kill the shy, wild dragon called the Grey Ghost, leading to confused reports claiming that it was the Cannibal that did it.) The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon II

While we don't get much detail, it seems the fight itself was fierce enough, given their roars and the wonder with which the sailors watched it (as well as the simple fact that it's decribed as a legitimate "battle"). The fresh wounds taken from Grey Ghost mentioned in Sunfyre's battle against Moondancer are testament to this as well. Whether Sunfyre is the one who partly devoured his corpse...It would certainly fit the cannibalization theme of the Dance as a whole, and Sunfyre as the most obvious symbol of the decline of House Targaryen itself-from the most beautiful dragon in the world to something of a wreck, slowly dying from his accumulated injuries.

The burned king and the maimed dragon each found new purpose in the other. From a hidden lair on the desolate eastern slopes of the Dragonmont, Aegon ventured forth each day at dawn, taking to the sky again for the first time since Rook’s Rest, whilst the Two Toms and their cousin Marston Waters returned to the other side of the island to seek out men willing to help them take the castle.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Aside from the general Aegon II and Sunfyre feels, this passage seems to indicate Aegon and Sunfyre accustomizing themselves to their new respective restrictions and changes when it comes to flying (Not near enough discussion about the fact that Aegon is the only disabled dragonrider we see and the adjustment curve that must have been...Heck, it's his hope to eventually fly again even after he shatters both of his leg, even after Sunfyre's death, to eventually claim "a new Sunfyre, prouder and fiercer than the last").

So it came to pass that when King Aegon II flew Sunfyre over Dragonmont’s smoking peak and made his descent, expecting to make a triumphant entrance into a castle safely in the hands of his own men, with the queen’s loyalists slain or captured, up to meet him rose Baela Targaryen, Prince Daemon’s daughter by the Lady Laena, as fearless as her father. Moondancer was a young dragon, pale green, with horns and crest and wingbones of pearl. Aside from her great wings, she was no larger than a warhorse, and weighed less. She was very quick, however, and Sunfyre, though much larger, still struggled with a malformed wing and had taken fresh wounds from Grey Ghost. They met amidst the darkness that comes before the dawn, shadows in the sky lighting the night with their fires. Moondancer eluded Sunfyre’s flames, eluded his jaws, darted beneath his grasping claws, then came around and raked the larger dragon from above, opening a long smoking wound down his back and tearing at his injured wing. Watchers below said that Sunfyre lurched drunkenly in the air, fighting to stay aloft, whilst Moondancer turned and came back at him, spitting fire. Sunfyre answered with a furnace blast of golden flame so bright it lit the yard below like a second sun, a blast that took Moondancer full in the eyes. Like as not, the young dragon was blinded in that instant, yet still she flew on, slamming into Sunfyre in a tangle of wings and claws. As they fell, Moondancer struck at Sunfyre’s neck repeatedly, tearing out mouthfuls of flesh, whilst the elder dragon sank his claws into her underbelly. Robed in fire and smoke, blind and bleeding, Moondancer beat her wings desperately as she tried to break away, but all her efforts did was slow their fall. The watchers in the yard scrambled for safety as the dragons slammed into the hard stone, still fighting. On the ground, Moondancer’s quickness proved of little use against Sunfyre’s size and weight. The green dragon soon lay still. The golden dragon screamed his victory and tried to rise again, only to collapse back to the ground with hot blood pouring from his wounds. King Aegon had leapt from the saddle when the dragons were still twenty feet from the ground, shattering both legs. Lady Baela stayed with Moondancer all the way down. Burned and battered, the girl still found the strength to undo her saddle chains and crawl away as her dragon coiled in her final death throes. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

This is a good showing from both dragons involved, given their respective conditions. Small dragons are established as swifter and more nimble in the air in general (as we'll see in Second Tumbleton as well), Moondancer is noted as swift in general and Sunfyre has accumulated quite the amount of injuries. Given Moondancer's size and youth I do take some small issues with the apparant ease with which she rakes open Sunfyres scales however (given that it's established lore that said scales harden with age I'd expect a barely rideable dragon to have more difficulties injurying a battle-sized dragon) and the distribution of "hits" exchanged during the fall, but those are admittedly a bit nit-picky. Given how Moondancer succumbed quickly once on the ground it also seems likely that the eye-injury mentioned in Aegon's greeting of Rhaenyra was inflicted by Grey Ghost (given that there's no reason the infliction of such a major injury wouldn't be mentioned in the description of the battle, had Moondancer caused it, especially since all other injuries she did cause are attributed to her):

As he stirred and raised his head, huge wounds were visible along his neck, where another dragon had torn chunks from his flesh. On his belly were places where scabs had replaced scales, and where his right eye should have been was only an empty hole, crusted with black blood.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

and Sunfyre already carried it into battle with Moondancer, which would add another explanation than simply "lack of speed" to his failure to grasp Moondancer with claws or jaws in the first rush, trouble with his "claws-eye" coordination and getting an accurate visual of her.

I don't think it's controversial to claim that when it comes to combat Sunfyre has one of the most succesful records of all dragons involved in the Dance, partly simply bc the number of "battles" he's part of exceeds that of all others, and partly due to exhibiting unrivaled perserverance, especially considering that he either had to face his enemies already injured (Moondancer, Motoons men) and/or with a disparity in size against his favour (Meleys, Grey Ghost). If one takes Rhaenys intial comment about him as disparaging rather than acknowledging, there is also a certain irony in Sunfyre being the dragon to prove instrumental in the downfall of both Rhaenys and Rhaenyra. But this is where his role in this already far-to-long post ends.

Dance Baby Dance!

Chronologically speaking, God's Eye precedes Second Tumbleton, but at this point it's whatever. Let's say I wanna save it for last, as a boost of motivation by turning towards less involved dragons. Also, let me pre-face this by saying that I see Daeron as involved until the three-way Vermithor, Seasmoke and Tessarion battle at least. Tessarions behaviour, fighting-style and intervention makes little sense otherwise, and the book is very open about the fact that all of the proposed theories for Daeron's pre-battle or immediatet demise at his tent are fishy by adding a footnote that amounts to "however he really died, it happened at Tumbleton, okay?"

Again, the many logistical criticisms to be made will be disregarded for this, just looking at dragon-performance, Pt.1 :

In the sky above, Addam Velaryon could see the battle turning into a rout below him. Two of the three enemy dragonriders were dead, but he would have had no way of knowing that. He could doubtless see the enemy dragons, however. Unchained, they were kept beyond the town walls, free to fly and hunt as they would; Silverwing and Vermithor oft coiled about one another in the fields south of Tumbleton, whilst Tessarion slept and fed in Prince Daeron’s camp to the west of the town, not a hundred yards from his pavilion. Dragons are creatures of fire and blood, and all three roused as the battle bloomed around them. A crossbowman let fly a bolt at Silverwing, we are told, and twoscore mounted knights closed on Vermithor with sword and lance and axe, hoping to dispatch the beast whilst he was still half-asleep and on the ground. They paid for that folly with their lives. Elsewhere on the field, Tessarion threw herself into the air, shrieking and spitting flame, and Addam Velaryon turned Seasmoke to meet her. A dragon’s scales are largely (though not entirely) impervious to flame; they protect the more vulnerable flesh and musculature beneath. As a dragon ages, its scales thicken and grow harder, affording even more protection, even as its flames burn hotter and fiercer (where the flames of a hatchling can set straw aflame, the flames of Balerion or Vhagar in the fullness of their power could and did melt steel and stone). When two dragons meet in mortal combat, therefore, they will oft employ weapons other than their flame: claws black as iron, long as swords, and sharp as razors, jaws so powerful they can crunch through even a knight’s steel plate, tails like whips whose lashing blows have been known to smash wagons to splinters, break the spine of heavy destriers, and send men flying fifty feet in the air. The battle between Tessarion and Seasmoke was different. History calls the struggle between King Aegon II and his half-sister Rhaenyra the Dance of the Dragons, but only at Tumbleton did the dragons ever truly dance. Tessarion and Seasmoke were young dragons, nimbler in the air than their older kin. Time and time again they rushed one another, only to have one or the other veer away at the last instant. Soaring like eagles, stooping like hawks, they circled, snapping and roaring, spitting fire, but never closing. Once, the Blue Queen vanished into a bank of cloud, only to reappear an instant later, diving on Seasmoke from behind to scorch his tail with a burst of cobalt flame. Meanwhile, Seasmoke rolled and banked and looped. One instant he would be below his foe, and suddenly he would twist in the sky and come around behind her. Higher and higher the two dragons flew, as hundreds watched from the roofs of Tumbleton. One such said afterward that the flight of Tessarion and Seasmoke seemed more mating dance than battle. Perhaps it was.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Other posts have been made (including an old one of mine; warning for re-translated rather than original F&B passages, as I did not have the original available at the time) about the discreptancies between a riderless dragons behaviour and Tessarions movements, so I'm not gonna re-state them all. Suffice to say both Daeron and Addam demonstrate some good dragonriding skills in this, even Addam with his spotty and short history as a dragonrider (the one thing that makes me consider the possibility of Laenor-as-Addam in the show as semi-plausible...). We also see both Tessarion and Seasmoke described as young dragons and exhibit similar nimbleness and maneuverability. Seasmoke was hatched in 101 AC at the latest, btw, though likely earlier, given that he's classified as a young dragon even then:

The Great Council deliberated for thirteen days. The tenuous claims of nine lesser competitors were considered and discarded (one such, a hedge knight who put himself forward as a natural son of King Jaehaerys himself, was seized and imprisoned when the king exposed him as a liar). Archmaester Vaegon was ruled out on account of his vows and Princess Rhaenys and her daughter on account of their sex, leaving the two claimants with the most support: Viserys Targaryen, eldest son of Prince Baelon and Princess Alyssa, and Laenor Velaryon, the son of Princess Rhaenys and grandson of Prince Aemon. Viserys was the Old King’s grandson, Laenor his great-grandson. The principle of primogeniture favored Laenor, the principle of proximity Viserys. Viserys had also been the last Targaryen to ride Balerion…though after the death of the Black Dread in 94 AC he never mounted another dragon, whereas the boy Laenor had yet to take his first flight upon his young dragon, a splendid grey-and-white beast he named Seasmoke.

Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon—A Question of Succession

On to Part 2 of the battle though:

The dance ended when Vermithor rose roaring into the sky. Almost a hundred years old and as large as the two young dragons put together, the bronze dragon with the great tan wings was in a rage as he took flight, with blood smoking from a dozen wounds. Riderless, he knew not friend from foe, so he loosed his wroth on all, spitting flame to right and left, turning savagely on any man who dared to fling a spear in his direction. One knight tried to flee before him, only to have Vermithor snatch him up in his jaws, even as his horse galloped on. Lords Piper and Deddings, seated together atop a low rise, burned with their squires, servants, and sworn shields when the Bronze Fury chanced to take note of them. An instant later, Seasmoke fell upon him. [...] This was no dance, but a fight to the death. Vermithor had been flying no more than twenty feet above the battle when Seasmoke slammed into him from above, driving him shrieking into the mud. Men and boys ran in terror or were crushed as the two dragons rolled and tore at one another. Tails snapped and wings beat at the air, but the beasts were so entangled that neither was able to break free. Benjicot Blackwood watched the struggle from atop his horse fifty yards away. Vermithor’s size and weight were too much for Seasmoke to contend with, Lord Blackwood told Grand Maester Munkun many years later, and he would surely have torn the silver-grey dragon to pieces…if Tessarion had not fallen from the sky at that very moment to join the fight. Who can know the heart of a dragon? Was it simple bloodlust that drove the Blue Queen to attack? Did the she-dragon come to help one of the combatants? If so, which? Some will claim that the bond between a dragon and dragonrider runs so deep that the beast shares his master’s loves and hates. But who was the ally here, and who the enemy? Does a riderless dragon know friend from foe? We shall never know the answers to those questions. All that history tells us is that three dragons fought amidst the mud and blood and smoke of Second Tumbleton. Seasmoke was first to die, when Vermithor locked his teeth into his neck and ripped his head off. Afterward the bronze dragon tried to take flight with his prize still in his jaws, but his tattered wings could not lift his weight. After a moment he collapsed and died. Tessarion, the Blue Queen, lasted until sunset. Thrice she tried to regain the sky, and thrice failed. By late afternoon she seemed to be in pain, so Lord Blackwood summoned his best archer, a longbowman known as Billy Burley, who took up a position a hundred yards away (beyond the range of the dying dragon’s fires) and sent three shafts into her eye as she lay helpless on the ground.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Lots to unpack here. AFirst of all, some nice contrast Vermithor, explicitily riderless, provides to Tessarion, claimed to be riderless but behaving very differently wrt the whole 'not being able to tell friend from foe' and participating in a three-way-deathmatch rather than just...fly off, given how Seasmoke ditched her. As for the battle itself, while it's true that Seasmoke and Vermithor are the first ones entangled with each other, I do nonetheless find it remarkable not only that she does so but by how much Tessarion outlasts them-Second Tumbleton was a night-surprise-attack, so lasting until sunset is quite some time.

Here's also where we get into a small tinfoil theory of mine: perhaps some readers will remember the section of Sunfyre's fight against Wallys Motoon and his men and how I bolded the section "Thrice he rose, and thrice fell back to earth"? I find it difficult to see this Tessarion scene as anything but a deliberate call-back to said scene, which, you guessed it, does end with Sunfyre ultimately flying off after the initial assault in which he failed to take air. I thereby propose that if she hadn't been sniped by Rhaenyra supporters ("she seemed to be in pain" I think that's to be expected after a three-way dragon battle involving friggin Vermithor!) Tessarion might have had a chance at recovery. Just a theory, but the celebration about the succesfull defeat of two Green-aligned dragons makes me disinclined to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding dragon rehabilitation.

Even so, they wreaked great slaughter on their confused and disorganized foes, fired their tents, burned or captured almost all their wagons, fodder, and provisions, made off with three-quarters of their warhorses, slew their prince, and put an end to two of the king’s dragons.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Driving your Dragon into a Lake?

Ans so we come to the Battle above the Gods Eye....

Then the old prince bade Caraxes bend his neck, and climbed stiffly onto his back, whilst the young prince kissed his woman and vaulted lightly onto Vhagar, taking care to fasten the four short chains between belt and saddle. Daemon left his own chains dangling. Caraxes hissed again, filling the air with flame, and Vhagar answered with a roar. As one the two dragons leapt into the sky.

Prince Daemon took Caraxes up swiftly, lashing him with a steel-tipped whip until they disappeared into a bank of clouds. Vhagar, older and much the larger, was also slower, made ponderous by her very size, and ascended more gradually, in ever widening circles that took her and her rider out over the waters of the Gods Eye. The hour was late, the sun was close to setting, and the lake was calm, its surface glimmering like a sheet of beaten copper. Up and up she soared, searching for Caraxes as Alys Rivers watched from atop Kingspyre Tower in Harrenhal below.

The attack came sudden as a thunderbolt. Caraxes dove down upon Vhagar with a piercing shriek that was heard a dozen miles away, cloaked by the glare of the setting sun on Prince Aemond’s blind side. The Blood Wyrm slammed into the older dragon with terrible force. Their roars echoed across the Gods Eye as the two grappled and tore at one another, dark against a blood-red sky. So bright did their flames burn that fisherfolk below feared the clouds themselves had caught fire. Locked together, the dragons tumbled toward the lake. The Blood Wyrm’s jaws closed about Vhagar’s neck, her black teeth sinking deep into the flesh of the larger dragon. Even as Vhagar’s claws raked his belly open and Vhagar’s own teeth ripped away a wing, Caraxes bit deeper, worrying at the wound as the lake rushed up below them with terrible speed.

And it was then, the tales tell us, that Prince Daemon Targaryen swung a leg over his saddle and leapt from one dragon to the other. In his hand was Dark Sister, the sword of Queen Visenya. As Aemond One-Eye looked up in terror, fumbling with the chains that bound him to his saddle, Daemon ripped off his nephew’s helm and drove the sword down into his blind eye, so hard the point came out the back of the young prince’s throat. Half a heartbeat later, the dragons struck the lake, sending up a gout of water that was said to have been as tall as Kingspyre Tower.

Neither man nor dragon could have survived such an impact, the fisherfolk who saw it said. Nor did they. Caraxes lived long enough to crawl back onto the land. Gutted, with one wing torn from his body and the waters of the lake smoking about him, the Blood Wyrm found the strength to drag himself onto the lakeshore, expiring beneath the walls of Harrenhal. Vhagar’s carcass plunged to the lake floor, the hot blood from the gaping wound in her neck bringing the water to a boil over her last resting place. When she was found some years later, after the end of the Dance of the Dragons, Prince Aemond’s armored bones remained chained to her saddle, with Dark Sister thrust hilt-deep through his eye socket.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant

Be an Aemond and wear your seatbelt! Bad role-modelling from Daemon's side aside, the explicit description of Daemon hurrying up Caraxes with his whip is somehow very fun to me, a nice detail if you will...Yeah, Vhagar was likely slower no matter what, but it's interesting that Aemond doesn't seem that interested in giving chase in the first place. Honestly, if Daemon didn't enter this battle plainly suicidal it would be difficult to see something that could be considered a "win" for him. Yes Caraxes is constantly highlighted as vicious beast with experience in warfare, but Vhagar eclipses him in both temper, experience and being around twice as large, so Aemond's confidence and slower pace in going after them seems justified instead of just blatantly arrogant. It's only because Daemon is willing to throw his own and Caraxes life away that he is able to pull a maneuver such as the jump and leaving Caraxes to get torn apart by Vhagar to keep her in place. While I consider the move itself ridiculous no matter what, I do like that it takes a suicide run to take down Vhagar, even if her injuries itself still seem a bit....shallow, comparatively, to lead to her death as quickly as they seemingly do. Yeah, physics and whatnot. Droping into a lake still seems a bit more ignominious than having to get literally torn apart to be stopped. It also seems like a bit of a waste that for all his hype Caraxes was only actually involved in a single dragon-on-dragon battle, but wasted opportunities are another staple of the Dance's writing.

Rhaenyra exits Stage

Ngl I almost forgot the Storming of the Dragonpit, not because it's not a hugely significant event but because three-quarters of dragons involved are barely riding-size and not controversial regarding their size or ferocity (except Syrax mayhaps, who gets a bad reputation). Also, it's another looong section, but it does contain dragons fightings, so here goes (Part 1 bc it's another long one, as mentioned):

There were four dragons housed within the Dragonpit. By the time the first of the attackers came pouring out onto the sands, all four were roused, awake, and angry.

No two chronicles agree on how many men and women died that night beneath the Dragonpit’s great dome: two hundred or two thousand, be that as it may. For every man who perished, ten suffered burns and yet survived. Trapped within the pit, hemmed in by walls and dome and bound by heavy chains, the dragons could not fly away, or use their wings to evade attacks and swoop down on their foes. Instead they fought with horns and claws and teeth, turning this way and that like bulls in a Flea Bottom rat pit…but these bulls could breathe fire. “The Dragonpit was transformed into a fiery hell where burning men staggered screaming through the smoke, the flesh sloughing from their blackened bones,” writes Septon Eustace, “but for every man who died, ten more appeared, shouting that the dragons must needs die. One by one, they did.”

Shrykos was the first dragon to succumb, slain by a woodsman known as Hobb the Hewer, who leapt onto her neck, driving his axe down into the beast’s skull as Shrykos roared and twisted, trying to throw him off. Seven blows did Hobb deliver with his legs locked round the dragon’s neck, and each time his axe came down he roared out the name of one of the Seven. It was the seventh blow, the Stranger’s blow, that slew the dragon, crashing through scale and bones into the beast’s brain…if Eustace is to be believed.

Morghul, it is written, was slain by the Burning Knight, a huge brute of a man in heavy armor who rushed headlong into the dragon’s flame with spear in hand, thrusting its point into the beast’s eye repeatedly even as the dragonflame melted the steel plate that encased him and devoured the flesh within.

Prince Joffrey’s Tyraxes retreated back into his lair, we are told, roasting so many would-be dragonslayers as they rushed after him that its entrance was soon made impassable by their corpses. But it must be recalled that each of these man-made caves had two entrances, one fronting onto the sands of the pit, the other opening onto the hillside. It was the Shepherd himself who directed his followers to break through the “back door.” Hundreds did, howling through the smoke with swords and spears and axes. As Tyraxes turned, his chains fouled, entangling him in a web of steel that fatally limited his movement. Half a dozen men (and one woman) would later claim to have dealt the dragon the mortal blow (like his master, Tyraxes suffered further indignity even in death, as the Shepherd’s followers sliced the membranes from his wings and tore them into ragged strips to fashion dragonskin cloaks).

The last of the four pit dragons did not die so easily. Legend has it that Dreamfyre had broken free of two of her chains at Queen Helaena’s death. The remaining bonds she burst now, tearing the stanchions from the walls as the mob rushed her, then plunging into them with tooth and claw, ripping men apart and tearing off their limbs even as she loosed her terrible fires. As others closed about her she took wing, circling the cavernous interior of the Dragonpit and swooping down to attack the men below. Tyraxes, Shrykos, and Morghul killed scores, there can be little doubt, but Dreamfyre slew more than all three of them combined.

Hundreds fled in terror from her flames…but hundreds more, drunk or mad or possessed of the Warrior’s own courage, pushed through to the attack. Even at the apex of the dome, the dragon was within easy reach of archer and crossbowman, and arrows and quarrels flew at Dreamfyre wherever she went, at such close range that some few even punched through her scales. Whenever she lighted, men swarmed to the attack, driving her back into the air. Twice the dragon flew at the Dragonpit’s great bronze gates, only to find them closed and barred and defended by ranks of spears.

Unable to flee, Dreamfyre returned to the attack, savaging her tormentors until the sands of the pit were strewn with charred corpses, and the very air was thick with smoke and the smell of burned flesh, yet still the spears and arrows flew. The end came when a crossbow bolt nicked one of the dragon’s eyes. Half-blind, and maddened by a dozen lesser wounds, Dreamfyre spread her wings and flew straight up at the great dome above in a last desperate attempt to break into the open sky. Already weakened by blasts of dragonflame, the dome cracked under the force of impact, and a moment later half of it came tumbling down, crushing both dragon and dragonslayers under tons of broken stone and rubble.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

While the Storming gets understandably celebrated as the Smallfok striking back against the Targaryens and their particularly recent suffering imposed on the people for personal gain, I also always find it very sad, not only due to the huge numbers of casualties, but also because it's...Two of said dragons were bonded to (eventually) murdered children that never even rode them, one to the queen whom to avenge was one of the sparks that lit the riot in the first place, the last one to another child. All of them chained, only one actually mature one, all acting on the animal instinct of self-preservation rather than being deliberately directed to kill by their riders (which is the key component of death tolls attributable to dragons. Outside of Drogon, dragons that are left to their own devices in Fire & Blood have a civilian death toll of zero. I don't think that's just an oversight or coincidence). It's not that I don't get why people love it and find it very powerful or don't share these opinions, I just find the chained dragons a very powerful motif as well. Anyway, here we have a good depicition of the different ages and sizes of the dragons, with Shrykos and Morghul being probably around Stormclouds size, who was felled by arrows and a scorpion bolt. Tyraxes is larger, with Joffrey escorting Rhaena to the Vale on him, which you can see in the higher death toll he exacts on his attackers. Then there's obviously Dreamfyre, displaying her greater size and age by far as well as the potential danger she might have posed in the Dance if GRRM hadn't written Helaena out of it. I said it around the beginning of the post, but bringing down the entire Dragonpit, killing everyone within, the very same Dragonpit constructed to hold Balerion...Yes, obviously rampaging dragons likely weren't part of the "plan" but you can't tell me you wouldn't try to build your dragon enlosure durable and equipped for eventualities...

Unchained and riderless, Syrax might have easily flown away from the madness. The sky was hers. She could have returned to the Red Keep, left the city entirely, taken wing for Dragonstone. Was it the noise and fire that drew her to the Hill of Rhaenys, the roars and screams of the dying dragons, the smell of burning flesh? We cannot know, no more than we can know why Syrax chose to descend upon the Shepherd’s mobs, rending them with tooth and claw and devouring dozens, when she might as easily have rained fire on them from above, for in the sky no man could have harmed her. We can only report what happened, as Mushroom, Septon Eustace, and Grand Maester Munkun have set it down for us.

Many a conflicting tale is told of the death of the queen’s dragon. Munkun credits Hobb the Hewer and his axe, though this is almost certainly mistaken. Could the same man truly have slain two dragons on the same night and in the same manner? Some speak of an unnamed spearman, “a blood-soaked giant” who leapt from the Dragonpit’s broken dome onto the dragon’s back. Others relate how a knight named Ser Warrick Wheaton slashed a wing from Syrax with a Valyrian steel sword (Lamentation, most like). A crossbowman named Bean would claim the kill afterward, boasting of it in many a wine sink and tavern, until one of the queen’s loyalists grew tired of his wagging tongue and cut it out.

Possibly all these worthies (save Hobb) played some role in the dragon’s demise…but the tale most oft heard in King’s Landing named the Shepherd himself as the dragonslayer. As others fled, the story went, the one-handed prophet stood fearless and alone against the ravening beast, calling on the Seven for succor, till the Warrior himself took form, thirty feet tall. In his hand was a black blade made of smoke that turned to steel as he swung it, cleaving the head of Syrax from her body. And so the tale was told, even by Septon Eustace in his account of these dark days, and so the singers sang for many years thereafter.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Overthrown

Now, Syrax often gets a bad rep for not doing anything of interest during the Dance, an opinion I myself do overall share...But I'm inclined to reward points for a death against what's likely massive bloodmagic. Given how ASOIAF rolls, it seems by far the likeliest explanation to me. The number of deaths in the Storming of the Dragonpit would certainly have offered more than enough "sacrifices" to make it work. As for her decision to fight on the ground, it wouldn't be the worst plot-contrivance of the Dance. Honestly, given how unfavourable she was described just shortly before this, she actually did rather well:

Six dragons remained in King’s Landing, but only one within the walls of the Red Keep: the queen’s own she-dragon, Syrax. A stable in the outer ward had been emptied of horses and given over for her use. Heavy chains bound her to the ground. Though long enough to allow her to move from stable to yard, the chains kept her from flying off riderless. Syrax had long grown accustomed to chains; exceedingly well-fed, she had not hunted for years.

Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons—Rhaenyra Triumphant

And with that this post that was supposed to be another "Sunfyre and Tessarion are larger than you think" post turned into somthing else entirely, a comentary of the Dance's multiple dragonbattles, explaining my perspective of events and far, far, too long. "Tumblr won't let me save the draft" kind of long. If anyone actually read this far, congratulation, I hope it made sense, given that I kind of lost the plot after the first two sections or something.

#asoiaf #dragons #the dance #sunfyre #tessarion #moondancer #vhagar #caraxes #meleys

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